Rainbow Time Dancers: The Legacy Collection
by JordynTaylor13
Summary: The legend of the Rainbow Time Dancers has been around before the Great War began, but with the strong use of color added by Roy G. Biv, this legend became a strong symbol of individualism, expressionism, and unity. These were the core aspects of those who opposed the tyranny that started the largest war ever held. One must remember though, legends are just stories lost in time.
1. Rebirth

_"In death, it is red that takes our souls away, but one must remember, it is through death that we are reborn and in red that we are given a new life." - Roy G. Biv_

Inside a deluxe gated off community in the city of Fabula, which was located in the Kingdom of Vale, there was a gorgeous two story home with a full basement and attic. It had four bathrooms, two of which had a shower, six bedrooms, each with a walk in closet, an industrial size kitchen, a dining room which might as well been called a hall, and a living room the size of a personal theatre.

The grass outside of this prestigious home was always cut to exactly one inch. Not a fraction higher nor a fraction shorter. The siding on the walls were glowing white they had been cleaned and polished so much. Windows were crystal clear, even fooling those who passed by that there wasn't any glass there.

Flower beds hung from each window, inside them dozens of colors roared to life in a mixture of beauty and grace. Near the front porch there were rose bushes, each perfectly trimmed to allow view of the others behind and beside it. Small plastic white columns stood on either side of where the walkway met the concrete on the porch, going up until it touch the roof just overhead. Connecting the columns to the sides of the house was a small fence, just as clean as everything else.

The door knob was clearly handcrafted, such a beautiful item could not have been made by machine. In the center of the door was a large brass door knocker with the letter B written in script on it. While the letter stood for Buds, the owners of the home, many others had far different opinions on what it meant.

Inside, a thirteen year old redhead with hair just above her shoulders neatly patted her bangs flat before pushing them left across her forehead and pinning them up with two hair pins. "Perfect." She stated in a soft voice, buttoning up the white polo shirt she had on before fixing the collar. She had on a black skirt which went down to her knees and a pair of black socks which went to her shins.

She knelt down, hunching her body forward as she grabbed her shoelaces and went to tying her black dress shoes it what was a perfect fashion. She smiled to herself at her flawless knots, standing back up and kneeling down once more to get her other shoe.

Moments later, she came down a flight of steps with a black leather handbag in her grip. Though this bag had a shoulder strap, she prefered to carry it by the hand straps which were also on it leaving the longer one to hang down and sway as she walked.

"Mother!" She called out, stepping off the stairs and turning as she walked into the kitchen. She sighed a little at the sight of no one. Taking a few steps, she gently set her bag on the floor and leaning against a wall. She reached up onto the counter, pulling a spotless metal lunch box to her. On top was a sticky note reading:

 _Sorry Rosa, got called into work for an emergency early this morning. A man was seriously wounded by a Beowolf. Your father is most likely resting from his night shift at the hospital, try not to wake him. I'm sorry I wasn't able to say good morning, but I made sure to make your favorite lunch. Have a great day, sweetie!_

 _Love, Mother_

Rosa couldn't help but gently smile, pulling off the note carefully. She crouched down, setting her lunch box beside her with a small clank. She then reached into her bag, pulling out a notebook. She flipped to a random page and laid the note down before closing it and putting it away.

"Love you too, mother." She said in a hushed tone as she stood up and grabbed her things. She went straight towards the front door, not missing a beat in her steps. When she made it there, she set her things down and grabbed a red sweater off a coat rack. She slipped it on, fixing her white collar out of neck with a smile. "Alright. Now you're ready." She nodded reassuringly to herself.

In a rural area just at the rim of the city limits, there was a small wooden house in need of serious repair. The lawn was unkempt and had several bare spots from improper care. To the right of the house was a small awning, just big enough to hide underneath it during the rain. Under it was a couple old barrels, a rusty orange BMX bicycle, the rims of the wheels turned black, an orange helmet with paint flaking off, a yellow helmet in much nicer conditions, several bright green tennis balls, and a side door which had a broken lock that if didn't have something leaning against it would swing open.

In front of the structure and right next to a dirt road was a medium sized oak tree. Even though it seemed like it was years away from dying or falling over, it stood strong and sturdy and even gave the perfect amount of shade to take a nap under its branches.

There wasn't much to the inside of the home. It was a small two bedroom house with one bathroom, a living room, and a kitchen that also had to function as the dining room with a table in the center. It had hardwood floors with a couple scattered rugs across them to make it softer for barefeet and several box fans all throughout each room to keep the air circulating since there wasn't any air conditioning.

"Uuuggghhh! It's so hot and the sun has barely even risen yet!" A girl with wavy orange hair that was cut into layers and in a ponytail that laid across her right shoulder complained while laying on the floor next to a fan. She rolled over onto her stomach, letting out a heavy huff of air. "And to make it worse today is my second to last day before school starts again! I don't want to go to seventh grade! What am I going to do with my two days left, Goldie?"

Laying in front of the girl, a Golden Retriever with long a beautiful fur was panting away. His tongue was hanging out, saliva forming at his cheeks. When she spoke, he tilted his head a bit. A moment later, he snapped his tongue inside his mouth and laid his head down on the floor, his snout and her nose centimeters from each other.

"Oh, I know what you should do, Jack!" She lowered her voice and reached over, cupping her hands under the dog's face. "You should make it so it's not burning hot in here!"

Jack then sat up, crossing her arms with a smile. "I dunno, buddy. I'm sure mom and dad wouldn't even notice when they came back home, but I don't know what to do."

"Oh please! Oh please! Oh please!" Goldie brought his head up again letting his tongue fall out as he went back to panting. "I know you're smart enough to think of something!" Jack said in her low voice with a smile.

"Okay, okay." She stood up, waving her hands in defense as she glanced around. "I'll think of something then head off the find the others. Since it's Rosa's last day of summer classes..." She said the word with utter disgust, shaking her head a bit. "Who knows why she would WANT to take those, but it's her last day and we're all going to meet up and head to The Treehouse."

"Oh that's so cool!" Her voice was low again as Goldie jumped to his feet, his tail wagging as he spun around. "I wish I had dog friends like that! But all I got is you..."

"Hey!" She pouted and crossed her arms. "You know you love me! I buy you millions of tennis balls! Plus I'm going to make it cooler in here. Just give me a minute..." She trailed off before running off.

Less than twenty minutes later, Jack had a long wooden stick and was mixing a plastic bucket halfway full of ice, water, and a whole lot of salt. She grunted softly as she moved the stick around, making sure the contents inside were well blended.

"I sure wouldn't want to touch what's inside there." She muttered to herself, placing the wooden stick in the sink. She stared at the three holes she had cut in the side of the bucket for a second before she picked up a box fan that was off and laid it across the top with the blades blowing downward. "Hope this works." She glanced back at her dog, flipping the switch and turning the fan on.

Goldie's ears twitched a bit as a rush of cold air shot from the holes in the bucket. He slowly crawled across the floor, his tail wagging as he stopped in front of it. Her perked his head up, shutting his eyes as he let his tongue fall out as the cool breeze blew across his face and flopped his ears.

Jack chuckled with a smile, reaching down and rubbing his head. "You be good, love ya." She winked while pulling her hand away.

Outside, the oranged haired girl stretched her arms. She had on an orange baseball sleeved shirt that was black on the sleeves and collar and a pair of brown baggy cargo pants with multiple pockets. They were two sizes too big for her so she had to wear a brown leather belt which she allowed to be free from the belt loop. The ankles of the pants were also hanging down over the orange and white converse she had on, the bottom edges of them rubbing against the ground.

"Be good, Goldie! I'm heading off to get Lem!" She shouted, throwing on her helmet as she jumped onto her bicycle and took off down the dirt yellow helmet moving back and forth as it hung from her handle bars.

Earlier in the morning, just as the sun lifted up across the horizon, its golden rays fell across the countryside of Fabula. There, a cozy home was brought out of the darkness and into the early morning light. It wasn't awfully big but neither was it small. Its size was perfect, welcoming to all who passed by in fact.

The place was built like a log cabin, large tree trunks stacked up one by one. Though, this place was rather well insulated. It may have looked classic on the outside, but on the inside it had a top notch air conditioning and heating system.

The house had three bedrooms, one of which was used to hold a very large assortment of hunting gear. From all types of guns to bows and arrows to large combat and survival knives, no one dared to attempt to break into this home. With the usual bathroom, living room, and kitchen, it also had a basement underneath which had been converted into a walk in freezer for all sorts of farm raised meats.

To the right was a well for getting water and to the left of the house there was a large red barn, fully loaded with bales of hay, farming tools, and a couple cats who found their way inside but never quite left the place. All around the barn and the house was field after field. Some were fenced off for animals such as cows and horses, and smaller pens for chickens and pigs. Other fields had crops as tall as a man and trees blossoming with apples and other fruits and berries. Here, someone could live alone without ever go to town for food. Well, if they wanted at least.

Just as the sun peered through the cracks of a set of curtains in one of the bedrooms, a large lump underneath a thick, handmade white blanket shifted around with a very soft groan. After a moment of silence, there was a soft sigh. A second later, a young blonde girl popped out from underneath the blanket with a teddy bear in her right hand.

She sat up, her bangs gently falling down across her forehead. With her eyes still shut, she moved her head around with her back length hair moving softly back and forth. She had on a handmade white cotton nightgown with eyelet ruffles on the sleeves and collar.

A split second later, the young blonde was skipping around her bedroom floor in a yellow overall skirt the went down to her knees and a white long sleeve shirt underneath. Her straight hair was now neatly brushed as it bounced around. "It's morning! It's morning! The sun has risen! It's morning! Time to wake up!" She cheered, jumping all around with her bare feet on the wooden floor.

In the blink of an eye, she was standing over her now perfectly made bed and was even tucking in her teddy bear that she was holding onto when she woke up. "Rest well Mr. Snuggles. Thanks for protecting me all night from the monsters." She smiled, leaning over her bed and kissing the bear on the forehead.

She spun around, jumping into a pair of light brown boots that went up to her ankles before she swung open the door and began to skip down the hallway. "Mommy! I'm awake!" She shouted, her shoes tapping underneath.

"I hear, I hear!" Her adoptive mother chuckled from inside the kitchen as she started to get out some plates, bowls, and pans for cooking. The metal hitting each other as she pulled them out. "Dad's cutting up some bacon and getting some sausage freshly ready. Mind getting us eight eggs and enough milk for breakfast, Lem?" She was middle aged with a long light brown ponytail loosely hanging down. She was currently wearing an apron along with a regular shirt and a pair of jean shorts.

"Already on it!" She shouted back as she headed towards the front door. "Pancakes or waffles this morning?" She asked while opening the front door.

"Dad wanted pancakes." She sighed. "Waffles are so much nicer... they don't fall apart with too much syrup..."

"Yeeeeesh!" Lem held her fist near her face. "I can make my famous breakfast taco!" She smiled, holding her hands down at her side. "I'll be back real quick, mommy! Can we have biscuits and gravy with bacon and sausage with the leftovers from today tommorrow morning?"

"Of course! Of course!" Lem's adoptive mother shouted back just as the front door shut.

Inside the barn, Lem had an easy time milking a cow while filling up a bucket as she sat on another which was upside down. "You know, Margaret, you're really sweet letting us do this so much." She stood up, brushing the cows back softly.

"I'm sure you like the open air and bright green grass and no Grimm slaughtering you though." She smiled with a faint laugh. "I guess you don't live such a bad life. Daddy takes real good care of you too."

The cow shook her head a bit while giving her foot a faint stomp. To this, the blonde chuckled more as she bent down and picked up the bucket of milk. "Now I gotta take this to mom so she can boil it and have it cooled in time for breakfast. You be good." She smiled from ear to ear, struggling a bit to carry the bucket out and back into the house.

Minutes later in the chicken's coop, Lem groaned as she held a basket with seven chicken eggs. "Come on, Fluffy." She complained, staring at a female chicken who was refusing to get up and off her egg. "I know that's not a baby! There are no boys here! Give. Me. The. Egg."

She moved her hand forward, going gently underneath the chicken before yelping and jerking her hand away. "FLUFFY!" She shouted, her hand huge and throbbing red from where the domesticated bird had pecked her.

The chicken let out a loud cluck, flapping her wings as feathers flew all around.

This only made Lem groan more before a lightbulb flicked on above her head as she held up a finger. "Oh! I got it!" She blinked, looking up at the light. "Huh." She tapped it. "That light hasn't worked for some time now. Wonder why it just now decided to turn on."

She shook her head, reaching into the basket as she pulled out one of the eggs she had already picked up. "Oh hey, look at that, I got your egg."

Fluffy blinked, her head tilting to the side before it tilted the other way. With a confused and puzzled look, she began to shift around before standing up. She took a few steps away before she turned back around to look where she had been sitting. Her eyes then shot wide as she shook her head, watching as Lem snatched away the egg she had been on.

"Haha! Victory!" The blonde shouted.

Though, that glory didn't last for long. As she started to walk out. Fluffy gave a low cluck as she flailed her wings and dove after her. Lem's eyes went wide as she glanced back. She screeched, holding the handle of the basket while the other was placed over the eggs to keep them steady. "Fluffy's gonna kill me!" She shouted.

Panting as she stepped into her house and walked into the kitchen, she set the basket of eggs down next to the sink. "I... hate... Fluffy..." She muttered between breaths.

Shaking her head, Lem's adoptive mother gently picked up two of the eggs. "How about you go tell dad that I'm preparing the pancakes now. I need that bacon and sausage."

"Okay, mommy!" The young blonde jumped up and down on her feet a bit before spinning and skipping away.

Outside, she pulled open the doors to the basement with a heavy grunt before she slowly started to descend into the chilly underground below. "Daddy..." Lem quietly whispered. "Where are you? Mommy wants her meat?"

She stopped at the bottom of the stairs, glancing in both directions before freezing. She blinked once, her eyes catching the glimpse of a butcher knife coming down on a large chunk of pig, the shadow falling over her.

She blinked once more, suddenly screaming as she ran back up the stairs as fast as she could. "Daddy wasn't done cutting the meat! DADDY WASN'T DONE CUTTING THE MEAT!"

"Oh... boy." Lem's adoptive father sighed, lowering his butcher knife as he reached up and rubbed the bridge of his nose. He was a short but muscular man with black hair in a heavyweight jeans and boots along with a white jacket which he wore when he was butchering. He shook his head, giving a heavy sigh.

In a suburban neighborhood in Fabula, there was a medium sized house with two full bedrooms, a bathroom, kitchen, living room, and dining room sitting on a street corner. It was a fair house, not perfect but decent. The windows only had faint smudging and the siding of the home only had a little bit of dirt staining it. The lawn had somewhat been sloppily mowed but the small flower pots with beautiful blooming roses made one forget all about that. There wasn't much else around it besides a few other houses and maybe a couple trees.

Dragging a black trash can behind her, a young thirteen year old girl with wavy green hair that went down to her back yawned. She had on a pair of loose black jeans and a short sleeve green hoodie, the hood pulled up over her head as her hair fell down across her chest, as well as a pair of black and green tennis shoes.

As she set the trash can on the side of the street, she gave off another yawn, lifting up her arms as she leaned backwards to stretch. "Why does the trash have to come so early..." She sighed, her hood falling off her head as her hair fell back.

"Good morning, Pi!" A familiar voice called out to the young girl.

"Oh!" The green haired girl's eyes perked up a bit as she looked across the street. "Morning, Jenkins." She gave a nod with a kind smile. "Beautiful day, isn't it?"

"Sure is." Across the street, on the porch of his house, an elderly man sat in the shadow of a tree. Everyday as the sun rose, the shadow would move, and old man Jenkins would shift across his front porch following suit so he wouldn't be in direct sunlight. "It would be better with some clouds though."

"Eh, it seems just right to me." Pi shrugged, sticking her hands on her pullover hoodie pockets. "You enjoy the rest of you day though!" She smiled brightly before turning around as she started to head back inside.

"You too, youngster!" He shouted back before he started to faintly cough. Eventually, it died down as he relaxed in his seat with a smile.

Inside the house, once Pi had closed the door, she instinctively took off her shoes and placed them neatly next to a couple other pairs by the door. She reached up, yawning again as she reached up and rubbed her green eyes which showed her lack of sleep.

She took a deep breath, twisting around on her heels as she walked into the kitchen. On the counter, a small rice cooker was making a fresh pot of steamed white rice. Pi glanched at it, tilting her head some before shaking her head. "Not done yet." She muttered as she stepped over towards the stove.

On the left top burner, a pot of miso soup was in the making. The soybean paste and broth were boiling together perfectly. To this, she reached over, turning down the heat just a bit. "Alright, let's see..." She picked up a plate with several different ingredients. "Tofu, green onions, mushrooms, clams, and seaweed." She dropped them inside the pot, letting it cook down.

On the back right burner, there was a much smaller pot with boiling water had several fresh green beans cooking. Pi pulled out a pair of chopsticks, picking up one of the beans. "Yep. Tender enough." She nodded, turning off the heat as she picked up the pot. She brought it over to the sink, draining the beans before quickly rinsing them. She then dumped the beans into a bowl which had sesame seeds, soy sauce, sugar, and a little bit of salt. She quickly tossed them before going back to the stove.

She hovered her hand over a frying pan on the bottom right burner, seeing how hot it was before nodding. "Perfect." She muttered, grabbing a plate which had two salmon fillets on them. She placed them both in the pan, hearing them sizzle as they began to sprinkled on just a faint bit of salt, leaving it be as she stepped to the side again.

She grabbed five medium sized bowls and two small bowls from a cabinet, placing them gently onto the counter as she eyed a teapot sitting on the left bottom burner. She opened another cabinet, pulling out two small cups for tea.

A couple minutes later, after the salmon had finished cooking, Pi put a small scoop of rice into three of the medium sized bowls, as well as miso soup into the other two. Two of the small bowls were used for the green beans and the others were used for the fish which she had cut up into small bite sized pieces. She placed one of each on a tray, leaving out the third rice bowl. Placing a cup on each tray as well, she poured green tea into both, watching as the steamed rolled off them before adding a pair of chopsticks to each.

She shoved pair of chopsticks into the rice bowl, picking it up as she picked up one of the trays and stepped out of the kitchen. "Okasan." She quietly called out, walking towards the living room.

Sitting on the couch and watching a screen with a local news report, an elderly woman sat with her right hand gently holding onto her left arm. "Yes, Pi?" She asked, her voice hushed. She had on a long black robe, her feet covered by soft looking slippers. She had short gray hair that was just slightly messy and uneven.

"Breakfast is done." The young girl smiled, moving a stand with her foot in front of her mother. She set the tray down on it, and while holding the bowl of rice in her left hand, she helped her mother sit up and move forward. "Is otosan awake yet?" She asked while stepping up onto the couch and crossing her legs as she sat down on top of them.

"Not yet, he's still asleep." She reached over, picking up her chopsticks with slow movements that Pi carefully watched. "What is it today?"

"It's um..." She rubbed her nose a bit before pointing with the chopsticks she had. "It's hakumai, miso shiru, yaki... yaki... yakizakana, and goma-ae green beans." She smiled brightly. "Oh and green tea as usual!" She smiled some more, stuffing her face with rice.

Her mother gave a soft chuckle, gently placing her hand over her mouth. "It's ocha, Pi."

"Uh, bless you?" Her eyebrows rose a bit in confusion.

"No, no, no." She shook her head softly. "Green tea. It's called ocha." She smiled, picking up her green beans and placing them in the rice.

"Oh." She blinked a few times before lifting up her bowl of rice and eating some more.

Glancing at her, the elder gave a sigh and shook her head. With her chopsticks she grabbed a few of her beans, placing them in her daughter's bowl. "You need more than just rice."

"What? No, no. That's for you, okasan." Pi pulled her bowl back a little. "You need all the nutrients you can get."

"And so do you." She smiled as she picked up her bowl of rice. "You're growing."

"And you're dy-..." She stopped herself, trailing off as she looked down.

"I'm old, I know, I know." She waved her chopsticks at her. "You don't need to tell me." She balled up some rice, picking it up as she stuck it in her mouth. She eyed the news, seeing how Grimm raids were becoming more and more common. "So what do you and your friends have planned today?"

"Well after I helped otosan eat, I was going to go and sort through the bills we need to pay and have them in order from which due date is closest and-"

"Pi Kelz." Her mother set her bowl and chopsticks down as she slowly crossed her arms. She glared back at her daughter, her eyes narrowed.

"Yeaaah...?" She sighed with a faint smile.

"What are your friends planning?" She asked again.

"Well, we were all going to go meet Rosa after she finishes her classes. Today's her last day of summer school, and we were going to hang out afterwards." She gave a small shrug as she took a bite of food. "But-"

"Go hang out with them." She reached over, picking up her cup of green tea with both hands. "After you help otosan eat, go hang out with them, okay?"

"Are you sure?" Pi asked quietly, lowering her bowl a bit.

"Yes, I'm sure." She nodded, inhaling the fumes from the tea before she took a sip. She shut her eyes, removing the rim of the cup from her lips. "Also, you don't say bless you in our heritage when someone sneezes." Hearing her daughter groan, she chuckled softly while taking another sip of tea.

An hour before the sun had risen, in the middle of the woods, there was a small two story hand built brick house with a chimney. The bottom floor was simple, it had a full bathroom, living room, and kitchen which had a table in it for eating. The upper floor had three small bedrooms, so if you were sleeping in the middle of the night and had a sudden urge to go to the bathroom, you better hope you could make it downstairs.

It was a nice home, the smoke was always rising from the top of the chimney and it was insulated enough to stay cool in the summer. Behind it there was a garden, fenced of with sticks and wires, which had all the vegetables you could imagine. Plus a few berry bushes and an apple tree just to the right of the garden. More importantly though, to the left of the house, about thirty meters away, in a large oak tree, there was a treehouse. But it wasn't any ordinary treehouse, it was The Tree House, home to the world's best six friends. Plus one. Sometimes.

There was a stone path leading up to the door, which was on the left of the house. Once inside, the stairs were straight ahead. To the right was the living room, and behind that the kitchen. The bathroom was snug underneath the stairs, small but perfect for those that lived there.

Up the stairs and to the right was the main bedroom, and on the wall behind there was two smaller but fitting bedrooms. There was also a backwards L shaped hallway from the stairs which turned and went down to the doors of the three bedrooms. It was nice, and perfect for those who wanted to live off the grid.

On the bottom of the stairs at the moment, there was a blue haired girl, one everyone in Fabula knew. Everyone in surrounding cities knew her too. Her name was Sky Bird, and she was the finest soccer star most would ever meet.

She laced up her blue and white sneakers, double knotting them so the wouldn't come undone. Once done, she strapped on a pair of five pound ankle weights to both of her legs before strapping three pound ones to her wrist.

Sky stood up, interlocking her fingers as she raised them above her head and stretched. "One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten." She let out a huff of air, letting her arms hang limp for a moment, she swung them back and forth before she interlocked her fingers again and leaned to the left and counted. She did this again for her right side, then bending straight down and touching the floor as well as side lunges.

Once she was finished, she zipped up the tight fitting hoodie she had and took a deep breath of air. Along with her hoodie, she had on a pair of athletic shorts that went to the middle of her thighs. She reached up, pulling her ponytail as tight as she could. "Let's get to this." She smiled, opening the door.

Outside, in the darkness of the early morning, she bent down into the starting position for a race. She was smiling as she waited, remaining still as the birds began to chirp in the tree tops. Then, the sun just barely appeared over the horizon, and she took off with a burst of energy. The ground in which her feet were had dirt tossed up, gently falling back to the ground like a cloud of dust. This was what she lived for.

Sky sprinted between the trees, fallen branches and leaves crunching underneath her powerful feet with each step she took. Dust kicked up behind her as did small pebbles. She jumped from one rock to another sometimes, only one foot touching each stone as she launched her way through the woods and up the side of a small hill.

Air came in and out of her lungs are a steady pace, her heart never going out of her control as the darkened area slowly became brighter and brighter with each step she took. Her blue eyes narrowed at a small ditch as her leg muscles flexed from running as did her arm muscles from swinging them back and forth. She took a deeper breath than usual, letting it out slowly as she neared the dip in the land.

Her right foot made contact with the ledge, and all seemed to slow for a moment. Pushing off, the leg muscles tightened as she flew through the air. She landed on her left foot landed on the other side, the leg flexing as it was forced to slow her down. She gave off a soft grunt, her running slowing for only a second before she took off again and up the hill.

It didn't take her long to reach the top, only about fifteen minutes and it was a two and a half mile run if she followed the path she wore down from years of being ran on.

Sky slowed down to a walk, panting as she made it to the top. She moved her hands behind her head, opening up her lungs up better so she could breathe easier. She stepped towards the edge which was a cliff that overlook all of Fabula. She smiled, moving her hands down as she lowered herself onto the edge of the cliff and sat with her feet dangling.

"And now, the best part about it all." She leaned back on her hands, smiling as the rising sun overtook the city. She sat there, watching as the sun lit up the darkened sky, changing from black to blue, then pink and yellow.

She sat there for a while, holding up her thumb once the sun had fully risen. She placed it over a small farm house in the distance. "There's Lem." She moved it closer to the city and over a beaten up house. "And Jack." Her thumb went over a large house inside the city. "Rosa." Her hand went deeper into the heart of Fabula, covering a regular home. "And Pi." She moved her thumb over the middle of the city, covering over an apartment building. "And last but not least, Ami." She chuckled to herself, standing back up.

"From here I can see all of you." She interlocked her fingers, stretching her back out as she looked down her worn down path. "Can't wait to see you guys later." She checked to make sure her ponytail was tight before she took off, heading back home.

Back at the Bird household, Sky stepped inside and took off the weights from her arms and legs. She sniffed the air a bit, smiling. "Making oatmeal, mama?" She asked, dropping the weights onto the ground before turning and heading to the kitchen.

"Some milk and a dash of white sugar for you." A woman with long black hair pointed towards a bowl on the table. "I have your sister's extra brown sugar bowl ready but she doesn't seem to be waking up." She shrugged, making herself her own bowl with just milk. At the moment she was in a pair of blue pajama pants and black slippers along with a very large black pullover hoodie.

"I'll get her up." Sky chuckled, turning around as she walked back through the living room. She paused, looking at a picture of a man with red hair cut short sitting on the fireplace. She sighed, shaking her head as she headed up the stairs.

Inside the second small bedroom, a girl two years younger than Sky laid sprawled out across her bed. Her indigo colored hair was in pigtails, though they were messy from being slept in. with one leg out from under her purple blanket and her arms wrapped around her pillow that her head rested on. She was snoring, perhaps even drooling a bit as Sky slowly opened the door and slid inside.

Sky crept up to the side of the bed, a wicked grin forming on her face as she chuckled. She reached down, grabbing underneath the mattress. "Wake up! Indy!" She shouted, flipping the mattress over as the younger girl went flying.

Indy gave off a scream, shooting to her feet as she stumbled around. "WHAT THE HECK!?" She snapped, glaring at her sister. She was in her clothes from yesterday which were an indigo colored shirt with sleeves that went to the middle of her upper arms and a black skirt the went down to her knees as well as indigo colored stockings. "SKY!" She shouted.

The elder sister simply chuckled, wrapping her arm around her sister's neck. "Come on, Indy. Breakfast is ready." She started to drag her behind.

Kicking and groaning, the younger thrashed around. "I was sleeping!" She hissed.

Sky simply shrugged. "Oh well. Now you're awake. Besides, I want to get our chores done early so I can go hang out with my friends."

"Can I come?" She perked up with a smile, walking with her sister down the stairs.

"Ugh, why?" She groaned back as her shoulders dropped.

"Because your friends are so cool!" She bounced up and down before sitting at her seat at the table.

"Mama, help me out here." Sky looked at her mother with pleading eyes as she sat down.

Looking between her two daughters, she pulled her spoon from her mouth and swallowed her bite of oatmeal. "Okay, okay." She waved her hands in defense. "Indy, let your sister play with her friends in peace. You went with them last time."

As the younger groaned back, the older sister smiled with a faint nod as she picked up her spoon. "Thanks, mama." She went to eating, eyeing her sister. Indy wouldn't just give up, she knew that, but at least her mother had her back.

In the heart of the city, in a cheap and poorly managed apartment complex, on the third floor in room twenty-one, a father and daughter lived. It was a small apartment, only one bedroom with a connecting bathroom and then a small kitchen and a living room. There wasn't a table, there was no need for one. There were no family meals here.

The trash can was usually overflowing with empty cans of beer or wrappers from several kinds of snacks. Besides some sandwich meat, bread, and a couple apples brought home from school, there wasn't really anything of nutritional value inside the fridge.

There was cans of soda as well as beer, double checking was important if you wanted to get the right drink, some milk left in a carton and maybe some juice if lucky. The rest of the food was mainly chips, cookies, pickles, and other cheap snacks that could be bought at half price if considered old at the store.

The floors of the bathroom were in need of a desperate washing, same went for the toilette in there and quite possibly the shower as well. There wasn't any shampoo, only large bottles of body wash which were also used for washing hair. There was also a razor sitting on the sink. A single bladed razor, though, it was clear it hadn't been used in a while from the rust spots on the blade. And while there was toothbrushes and toothpaste, it didn't seem like anyone used them.

The bedroom itself reeked of alcohol. The carpet floor was littered with crumbs as a fan circulated the air in the room. The bed was never made, always a mess of scrunched up pillows and blankets with a drunk and quite possibly half dead man laying in it.

Out in the living room, a couple empty cans of soda cans were scattered around the couch which was several years old and beginning to fall apart. Laying on this couch with television screen still on and playing a movie, a young girl with messy violet hair that went across her left shoulder in a loose ponytail slept. She had the remote on her chest as her right arm wrapped around a bag of half eaten cheesy chips. Her left arm was up and over, hanging across the armrest.

Unlike most of her friends, she was a little bit bigger. It wasn't her fault though. With only junk food and soda to eat and drink while at home most of the time, of course she would be adding on a few more extra pounds. Not like she cared though. She would make jokes about her fat all the time. She wasn't going to let something as simple as that bring her down.

Like right now, she would normally wear a pair of black sweatpants along with a double extra large pullover hoodie that was violet colored and had a couple holes in it from age. The neck opening was slightly hanging off her right shoulder, showing her light violet colored bra strap. Along with that while outside, she'd have a pair of black slip on shoes. She was far too lazy to reach down and tie her shoes together.

Behind her head was a small side table which had a lamp that was shaped like a leg with a skirt on top where the lightbulb was. It was currently on, the young girl forgetting to turn it off just the the screen before she had fallen asleep.

More importantly though, on this side table, there were several letters addressed to Mr. Thist. Each either stating he has an overdue bill or that he owes money to someone. Sometimes there were even police tickets that he was given for being so intoxicated and disturbing the peace.

Surprisingly enough though, one of the letters was written to young Ami Thist, the girl sleeping away and snoring on the couch at the moment. It was from Eritque Arcus Academy, and more importantly, their new headmaster Professor Black. In this letter, the new professor was wishing the best of luck to the new and old students returning to the school for the upcoming year. As well as hoping the receiver of the letter had a wonderful break of relaxation and rest and reminding them that the school year was coming up in just two short days, which means they needed to be ready to get back into routine of working harder than ever.

One more thing about Ami, she doesn't wake up till after noon when she doesn't have school

Hours later, at Arcus Academy, as the final bell rang to signal the end of the school day for those taking summer classes, Rosa walked down the halls with a strong suit of confidence and pride. Her spine was straight and her shoulders were rolled back as she held onto her school bag in her right hand and lunch box in her left as she passed several others.

While she did converse with the other students whose parents had them sent here during their break, she wasn't particularly fond of them. Most were either troublemakers that needed to retake a class or kids from her neighborhood. And those classmates, the ones that lived all high and mighty around her, they weren't exactly as kind as she was to others of different social standings. Actually, they weren't nice at all.

Rose Jolie was the worst of them all. She was all you could ever hate in a rich girl. Snobby, impolite, paying students to do her homework, complaining about every small detail that didn't go her way, this girl was the whole set when it came to being a spoiled brat. To make things even worse, since Rose and Rosa were so similar, everyone always thought the two were friends. The two practically grew up together, their houses were right across from each other, so of course everyone thought that. Though, they couldn't be more wrong.

Rosa could not stand Rose.

Continuing her walk down the hall, the young red head stopped at the front doors and pushed her right shoulder up against it. With her hands full, it was the only was she could open it by herself. She let out a small huff as it clicked, opening up to the bright outside. She stepped out of the path of the door, letting it shut with a loud clank followed by a click as the metal latches locked.

"How was your last day of summer classes, Rosa?" Rose asked, her smile as perky as every. Her luscious pink curly locks bounced around as she stood up from the steps she was sitting on, her posse of girls armed to the teeth with a bitter attitudes standing up behind her. She had on a light pink skirt that was way too short for her and a darker pink button up blouse with matching high heels. Not that a thirteen year old needed heels anyway.

"Straight A's as usual." Rosa replied, biting her tongue as she spoke in a soft tone. "Top of the class as well." She moved her hands in front of her, crossing her fingers between her bag strap and the handle to her lunch box.

"Of course, of course. You always were the smart one. Just like your parents." She waved her finger a bit, showing off a sparkling ring. "I came in third on the top ten charts." She sighed and flipped her hair a bit. "I should have been in-"

"A much lower spot since you paid the person in second to do your homework and help you cheat on test?" Pi walked up up from behind the stairs, her hood up as she hid her hands in her pockets. She couldn't help but faintly smile up at Rosa. "We all know it's true."

"Hmph." Rose crossed her arms, glaring over at the green haired girl. Before she could speak though, the sound of tires dragging across the concrete filled the air.

Rosa sighed some, shaking her head as she shut her eyes. "I should have taken a side door..."

Screeching to a halt in front of the stairs, with her bicycle tires leaving black track marks on the ground, Jack smiled as she pushed up on the rim of her helmet. A pair of arms tightly wrapped around her torso as Lem stood on the spokes on the back wheel. "What I'd miss?" She eyed her friends with a sigh. "Darn it, Pi. I was suppose to get here before you. Am I getting slower on this thing?" She glanced down at her tires. "Maybe they need more air."

"Well if it isn't the cavalry." Rose rolled her eyes. "At least I have better fashion than Thrift Shop over there." She scoffed.

"Fashion in what?" The oranged haired girl smirked, leaning across her handle bars. "In being a slut? Ow!" She grimaced and yelped as a hand struck the back of her head.

"That. Is. A. Bad. Word." Lem huffed, jumping off the bicycle and onto the ground as she dusted off her clothes.

"Maybe if I would have walked faster I would have gotten out without being stopped..." Rosa pinched the bridge of her nose, shaking her head.

Rose's face went as red as a tomato at the comment, her chest puffing out as her eye twitched and shoulders squared. "I never did like you, Jacklyne." She spat out the girl's name as harshly as she could.

She simply rolled her eyes in response, leaning forward a little bit more as her back arched. "That feeling is definitely neutral. Trust me."

She scoffed, flipping her hair as she turned around to face Rosa. "I don't even understand why you hang out with these losers." She shivered in disgust. "I mean Skyler I can partially understand." She gave a small shrug.

Like on cue, said soccer star walked up next to Lem with raised eyebrows. "Huh?" She panted softly, obviously from jogging here. "What about me now?"

"Rose is being a jerk again." Lem whispered quietly up to the blue haired girl who heavily sighed and lowered her head.

"I mean at least you are decent." Rose continued while pointing at Sky. "You excel in classroom grades as well as on the field. You would fit right in with us. Just like Rosa." She gave a shrug. "You're not like that fat lazy wannabe Amelia." A soft giggle stirred up behind her.

"What's your problem with Ami?" Lem gulped, her hands held tightly together in front of her. "She's a really sweet and nice person. She just has a rough life."

"Please." She rolled her eyes. "If you want to see a rough life look at my parents. They climbed their way up to get their fortune. Gosh, you're such a stupid and oblivious girl sometimes. No wonder your parents gave you up." A girl behind her held up a hand as she high fived her.

"Hey!" Pi snapped, reaching over and grabbing the pink haired girl's hand as a soft whine came from the blonde. "That's not funny!"

"Neither would be the fines your parents would have to pay for touching me in such a violent way." Rose smirked, watching as the green haired girl retreated. The group of girls behind her snickering. "How far behind are your parents on those bills of yours. Oh, better question. When was the last time your poor old man was able to stand and get out of-"

"How about you shut the heck up!" Jack finally snapped, her bike clattering to the ground just seconds before her fist struck Rose's nose and sent her back into her entourage.

Blinking slowly, Rosa watched as a small stream of blood started to come from the pink haired girl's face, dripping onto her clothes. "Oh... Jack." She sighed, quickly stepping between the group of girls and her friend. "Come on." She gently pushed her down the stairs, feeling how tense her body was. "Back up and calm down."

As the orange haired girl growled softly like a beast, Lem quickly picked up her bicycle with a gulp and a wince. "Why you little witch!" Rose snapped, cupping her nose with her right hand as she flailed her left around like a weapon. "I'll have your parents charged for this!"

"Not like they are ever home to check their mail." Pi smiled, pulling her hood down as she

stepped over to help Lem hold up the bike.

"I would think she would like to keep her mouth shut." Sky flashed a faint smile as she crossed her arms. "She wouldn't want the whole town knowing she got punched in the face by Thrift Shop, would she?" She added air quotes around the nickname Rose had given Jack.

The pink haired girl deeply growled, glaring at the five girls with as much hatred as she possibly could. "Why you..." She trailed off, snarling.

Jack glared back just as coldly before Sky grabbed her shoulder and pulled her back some. "Come on, let's go." She smiled caringly.

It took a second, but he eventually sighed. She stepped back, reaching up and taking off her helmet. "Yeah, you're right. She's not even worth it."

"Not even worth the money she has either." Pi commented, holding onto the bicycle as Lem let go to take off her helmet, placing it on the handlebars next to the orange one.

"Come on, move." Rosa nudged her friends onward, Jack grabbing a hold of her bike as she walked away with it. The other four of her friends following behind. The redhead glanced back, eyeing the pink haired girl who watched them with deadly and threatening eyes. This was surely going to me one crazy school year.

Walking down the sidewalk, the group of girls turned a corner to see Ami yawning as she stretched her arms and walked towards them. "Hey guys, what's up? Thought we were meeting at the school?" She yawned again. "Oh, sorry I'm late. I slept in again."

"Jack punched Rose in the face." Rosa tried to hide her smile as she walked on.

"Square in the nose." Jack smirked, winking at her friend. "Made it bleed and everything. It was a pretty funny sight. Plus with how her rich self reacted." She chuckled. "Priceless."

Ami blinked once, stopping her walk for a second before she turned around and followed the group. "Daaang it!" She sighed with a chuckled. "Aw, I always miss the best things!"

A while later, after heading back to Sky's small house in the middle of the woods, the group of girls were sitting inside their legendary hangout. The Tree House.

This treehouse was rather simple, though it had many features that made it the place of any child's dream. The oak tree itself was well over a hundred years old and it was tall, strong, thick, and sturdy. It had held up through many storms and was definitely going to hold up through many more. Attached to one branch there was a tire swing, hung from a thick rope and big enough for three people to sit in.

The treehouse itself was at least twenty feet in the air. It was a fifteen by fifteen foot wooden crate that seemed a whole lot bigger on the inside than it was on the outside. It had two windows; one facing north and the other facing south from which one could just barely see the city lights. In the middle on the floor was a hatch that could be pushed upward. Next to it was a rope ladder that had been pulled up to not allow entry from anyone else and also a wooden latch which sealed the hatch in from the inside.

The inner walls were decorated with anything a child could imagine. On the east side wall, there was a pair of red and blue hockey sticks hanging in an x shape over some hooks along with several water guns of the same colors on either side. Hanging above the red water guns was a red flag attached to a pole stuck into the wall. The same went for the blue weapons but with a blue flag instead.

Underneath the window that looked over the city, there was a large dark brown chest with gold trim and a lock that was filled with all sorts of thing. Aside from the missing key to lock it, it held a set of large binoculars, a couple pairs of roller blades, plastic swords, fake nunchucks, a wooden katana, several toy cars of all shapes, small sacks filled with either marbles, chocolate gold coins, or small glass gems, and a couple decks of playing cards.

Above the window there was a small shelf, a real and metal throwing star, that Pi's mother had given to her, with ancient writing in point in different colors resting on it. In the left corner the was a telescope, barely fitting with the size of the chest. This window, along with the other, had a set of wooden barred shutters that folded inward and had a wooden plank that could slide down when they were shut to lock them in place.

The west side wall had a couple shelves which were littered with a disorganized mess of slingshots, packs of a hundred water balloons, a couple action figures and superheroes, books, magazines, and poker chips. On the floor there was three buckets. One was filled with acorns, the second with pine cones, and the third with tennis balls. Leaning up against the wall on the floor was a wooden baseball bat and a metal one along with a tennis racket.

The north side had a small table had been placed in before the roof had been put on since all the openings to the inside of the treehouse was too small for it to fit. On the table was several cups holding either pens, pencils, color pencils, markers, crayons, or rulers. There was also a messy stack of plain white paper and a tape dispenser. On the wall around the window, there were several hand drawn and shaky sketches of maps of places around Fabula. Each was labeled with code words or either items of which the group of six girls found there.

The floorboards were worn smooth after years of pre-plan pacing and with every creak and sound that was given from either a footstep of a shift in weight, The Tree House seemed to remind them that this was the one place that the cruel world could never find them. This place was their safe haven from everything around them.

"Well we haven't gone over that creek yet." Sky sad, sitting on the table as she flipped through a few maps that weren't hanging on the wall. "We could see what's beyond that point?"

"But it rained yesterday." Rosa glanced up, shaking her head as she sat next to the telescope.. "The water will be really high. We would need at least a day to build a bridge. Plus we would have to deal with the ground being extremly wet. And I don't really feel like dealing with that."

"That's a good point." Jack waved her hand, standing next to the table while looking at the maps on the walls. She brought her hand up, biting the knuckle of her right pointer finger. "We could try climbing up the rest of that hill." She pointed at a map marked with Impossible Mountain.

"You mean walk up that whole thing?" Ami groaned softly, leaning ep against the wall with water guns. "It's ALL uphill." She pouted.

"Yeah, so what?" Sky raised and eyebrow.

"I think it would be a cool way to end the summer!" Lem shouted, raising her hand as she bounced up and down. "I'm all in! I just need to be back home before bedtime..."

"If we start now, we should be finished before sundown." Pi spoke up, sitting on the chest as she looked out the window and up at the sun. "We might need to hurry a bit though."

"All in favor?" Rosa glanced around, eyeing Ami.

The violet haired girl sighed, leaning back as she rolled her eyes. "I guess. I have always wanted to know what's at the top."

"Sweet!" Jack grinned, holding up a fist.

Just then, a stick suddenly struck the side off the treehouse. "Can I come up yet, Sky!" Indy groaned, sitting on the grass below. "I'm bored!" She waved her arms around before falling onto her back with a soft grunt.

"Indy..." The elder sister groaned softly, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Hey, listen! I have a super secret mission for you!"

The younger gasped, quickly jumping to her feet with a squeal. "Really?! What is it?!"

Sky smiled. "I need you to hold down the fort. Protect this place from any intruders while we go out real quick, okay?"

"Oh." She blinked slowly, giving a small sigh with a nod, kicking the ground. "Okay..."

"Great." She smiled back at her sister before looking at a wooden sign above the window which said The Tree House in extremely messy letters painted on in white. They had put that sign up years ago, and they were so little they thought treehouse was two words. Sure, they could have fixed that, but the name stuck. And there it shall stay.

Roughly two hours later, after what seemed like an endless walk uphill through the woods, Ami panted heavily with her hands on her knees. Her pants had several stains from dirt on her knees and on her hands as she stumbled a bit. "...why...uphill..." She groaned, shaking her head as sweat dripped down.

"Don't worry, we're almost there." Sky smiled, putting a hand on her shoulder as she gently rubbed it. "I can see the clearing from here." She moved her hand and went to patting her back.

Up in front, Rosa stepped with elegancy despite the rough terrain. "Whoa." Her eyes sparkled as she pushed a branch out of the way and slid past it into a small green opening that overlooked a cliff and several bluffs below that. "It's like you can see the whole world." She stepped closer towards the edge, looking across the distant horizon of land and trees.

"It looks like no one has been up here for years." Jack looked around at the seemingly untouched land. "Maybe even decades..." She trailed off.

"More like centuries..." Pi blinked, kneeling down as she gently ran her hand across the ground. "I don't even think animals have been up here. The dirt is as still as the surface of the untouched moon." She stood back up.

"Does it bother anyone else that our moon is falling apart?" Lem held out her hands with an innocent look in her eyes. "Like, we've never been to space and the moon is falling apart. And the planet we are on is called Remnant. Like remnants of what exactly?"

"Good Gods..." Jack reached up and pinched the bridge of her nose. "You've been reading up on conspiracy theories, haven't you?" She sighed, shaking her head. "You know what, nevermind. Don't answer."

"Need... to catch... breath..." Ami spoke between breaths, sitting down on top of a rock. She leaned back, her eyes shut as her chest rose and fell rapidly. "I don't understand how you play soccer, Sky-YEEP!" She yelped, leaning too far back as she fell over the rock she was sitting on.

"Ami!" Rosa shouted, quickly whipping her head around.

"I'm okay!" The violet haired girl shouted, holding up a hand from behind the rock. She groaned softly. Rubbing the back of her head as she sat up. "Ow, dang that hurt." She shook her head a bit, glancing over to see a small violet stone that was almost crystal like.

"Huh?" She reached over slowly and grabbed it. "What are-" She stopped, the stone glowing as it heated up in her palm. "What?!" Her eyes widened. Suddenly, she was fallen backwards off the rock again. "Agh!" She grunted, moving around.

"Ami!" Rosa shouted before blinking as she looked around. "What...?" SHe blinked some more. "That's some serious deja vu." She shook her head some, before her head snapped away from the horizon and back at Ami who just fell off the rock again. "A...mi..." She blinked slowly, her arms falling down to her sides.

"Ouch! Okay! Stop!" Ami snapped as she hit the ground for the fourth time. She took several deep breaths, shaking her head. She reached up, rubbing it. When she pulled her hand around, she saw a faint bit of red. "Ow..." She stood up slowly, glancing around.

The other five girls were frozen in shock. After a couple seconds, Sky slowly stepped forward. "Are you okay..." She trailed off. She cautiously knelt down next to where Ami had fallen and hit her head. She ran her hand across the ground, finding a blue stone.

She ran her fingers across it before picking it up. She eyed the stone in Ami's hand before bringing the blue one close. "What in the name of..." She trailed off, watching as it began to glow blue. Suddenly, Ami was sitting on the rock again, but this time she was uninjured. "Hey!" Seeing her lean back, Sky caught her with a soft grunt.

Ami blinked slowly, looking around with wide eyes. "What... the heck?"

"Those... stones you guys are holding." Rosa staired before looking around. "Is there more of them? I think they're the cause of whatever was happening."

"I think i found one." Pi knelt down, dusting some debris off a green stone. She glanced around, almost too afraid to touch it. She took a deep breath, slowly reaching out. "Please don't kill me." She murmured while picking it up.

Suddenly, the world around her sped up greatly. Ami and Sky had walked at least three meters in a span of two seconds and Rosa was scratching her head as she walked up next to Pi. Not only that, but Jack had climbed a tree five times her height in the same amount of time, Lem appearing at the bottom of the tree.

With shaky and terrified breathing, the green haired girl dropped the stone as everything went back to normal speed. "What... what the... what?" Her eyes were wide as she quickly fell to her knees to catch her breath.

As Rosa kneeled down next to her, Lem crouched down next to a tree and picked up a yellow stone which was hidden under a few branches. She slowly picked it up with both of her hands, staring at it curiously as she stood. "I found one too." She looked around, blinking slowly as Rosa and Pi stood up extremely slowly. She eyed Sky and Ami, seeing the two walk just as slow towards the other two girls. Up above in the sky, even a bird was flying with its wings and body moving slowly.

"Whoa." Lem shook her head with a soft groan, her world around her regaining normal speed. "Double whoa." She stepped forward, looking up at the top of the tree as Jack popped her head out.

"I found one!" She smiled, holding out an orange colored stone.

"Get down before you fall!" Rosa took a step forward. "We shouldn't be messing around with these things! They seem dangerous!" She called out.

"Pff, I am fine!" The orange haired girl smiled. Her eyes then snapped open wide as a twig broke. She yelped, her body falling as she screamed.

"Jack!" The redhead cried out, sprinting towards her.

Jack shut her eyes tight, her body tensing up. For a moment, it felt like her heart stopped as a chilling numbness fell across her body. The orange stone in her hand began to glow as it became warm. Not even a fraction of a centimeter from the ground, her body stopped. When she opened her eyes, she watched as her body began to go in the opposite direction in which she came. She was... falling upwards. Meanwhile, Rosa ran backwards until she was standing and Jack was back in the tree.

With a pale face, the orange haired girl clung to the tree as she slowly climbed down. "Y-Yeah, okay. Down. I am coming down."

"Okay, everyone needs to calm down for five seconds." Sky held out her hands, taking a few deep breaths as Jack and Lem walked up next to them. "What is going on?"

"I don't think any of us have a clue." Pi gulped, slow grabbing the green stone as she glanced up at Rosa.

"Okay, okay." The redhead shook her hands a bit. "It's obvious these stones are doing something, what, I don't know. But they are doing something." She took a deep breath. "I... I think the violet one loops time. And the blue is like a reset or something." She took a shaky breath. "And from what Pi explained, her's makes time speed up or something."

"I think mine slows time then." Lem licked her lips, gulping as she looking down at the yellow colored stone in her hands.

"Mines probably makes time flow backwards?" Jack raised an eyebrow. "I'm guessing?"

"Hey." Ami pointed over at a flicker of red on the ground. "I think it's another one."

Rosa glanced around, stepping over towards it. She knelt down, her heart beating inside her chest as she reached down and grabbed it. As it began to glow, she stood back up. "Wonder what-" She stopped herself, looking back at her friends who seemed frozen in time. She nodded slowly, shaking her head. "Of course, stopping time. Obvious." She sighed as her friends began to move again.

"Okay, either we are all crazy, or we stumbled onto magic." Ami grinned a bit.

To this, Lem bounced around with a smile. "Like fairy tales!"

"Yes, yes Lem." Rosa nodded, glancing around at her friends.

"Whatever it is, it's definitely stronger than Dust." Sky spoke up in the silence.

"Should we give them to the authorities?" Pi looked around with raised eyebrows.

"And say what?" Jack held out her hands. "Tell them we found six magical stones?"

"Right." She sighed, shaking her head. "That sounds absolutely crazy."

"So what do we do?" Ami eyed around the group.

"Go back home?" Lem's eyebrows rose.

"I guess so?" Rosa shrugged. When the rest of the group shrugged back, she nodded. When they began to walk, the ground underneath them started to tremble. "What?" Her head shot up, her eyes quickly widening as the ground below them shattered. It began to crumble, falling apart at their feet as the six girls began to fall. The bluffs below coming closer and closer until blackness.

Suddenly, Rosa jerked upwards in her bed. She took several deep breaths, moving her hair behind her ear with her hand. "What in Oum's name..." She shook her head, cold sweat dripping off her body. "It must have been a dream-" She stopped herself, her heart skipping a beat as she looked at the red stone sitting on her nightstand.

At Jack's house, the oranged haired girl was back to back with her dog, Goldie, while laying in bed. Underneath her blanket, she spun her orange stone around in her fingers. "What the heck are you?" Her eyes narrowed.

Meanwhile, as Lem collected eggs for the morning breakfast, she kept looking back inside her basket. She bit her lip, gulping as heavily as she could. Along with a few eggs, there was also the yellow stone she had picked up. And she was beyond confused and scared on how she was alive.

While her mother was eating her breakfast soup, Pi sat in the corner of the couch, fiddling with the green stone in her hoodie pocket. She hadn't even touched her bowl of rice. Feeling her mother nudge her, she glanced up. Slowly, she shook her head and looked back down. She had no clue how to even explain.

Sky was sitting on the third step in her home, her elbows resting on her knees as her hands were folded together. Her chin gently rested on her hands as her brows furrowed at the blue stone at her feet. Even though the sun had risen half an hour ago, she knew she wasn't going to make it for her early morning run.

Ami jerked herself awake from snoring. She rolled her head around, sitting up a bit. "Must... must of been a dream." She yawned, sticking her hand into a chip bag. He froze, blinking slowly. She took a deep breath, her eyes widening as she pulled out a violet stone. "Ohhh... dang."

Walking down the sidewalk, Rosa was shakily breathing as she rubbed her arms. As nervous and as terrified as she was, she couldn't even think straight. She didn't know why, but she had stuck the red stone in her pocket as she left her house. It was like it was telling her to.

She shakily exhaled before taking a deep breath. All she needed to do was find her friends and talk this out. They couldn't have actually fallen off that cliff and died, could they?

The redhead nearly screamed as a hand went over her mouth followed by another hand grabbing her wrist and pulling her back into an alley. She jerked away, her body on high alert until she saw her five friends.

Jack slowly let go of Rosa, pulling her hands back as she stepped away. "We need to talk." She muttered, the rest of them nodding behind her.

After a while, the group of girls were sitting down in the alley. Rosa, Jack, and Lem leaning against one side of the wall while Pi, Sky, and Ami sat on the other side.

"This is crazy." Lem muttered, gulping as she hugged her legs. "I know we've gotten into some crazy situations before, but this is absolutely insane." She took a deep breath.

"We all died." Pi whispered, glancing around as her hands gripped her legs extremely tight. "No one... no one could have survived that cliff collapsing."

"But we did somehow." Ami looked over. "And we woke up at home. Plus those stones followed us."

"Don't forget about the super powers part." Sky mumbled, looking at the ground.

Rosa heavily sighed, shaking her head. "Guess we should have made that bridge across that creek in the mud." She opened her mouth to say more, only to stop as she a siren sounded off in town followed by screaming.

She jumped to her feet, gripping the edge of the building as she looked out into the roads. "What is that about?" She raised an eyebrow, seeing people running away. She stepped out, a few of her friends standing up and following before the others did.

"Grimm!" One woman shouted, carrying an infant while holding a toddler's hand.

"Most of the warriors are out defending the borders!" A man not built for battle cried out. "One must have snuck past!" He gritted he teeth, shoving Rosa out of the way as he ran past. "Run for you lives!"

"Holy cow..." Lem trailed off, her eyes widening at the monstrous beast coming down the streets, looking for any unfortunate soul that couldn't get away.

"It's a Sephet Slayer!" A woman screamed at the top of her lungs, crying bloody murder while sprinting down the middle of the street. Behind her, a demonic Grimm with a snake like body and twin tails with yellow stingers slithered down after her. It was the size of three humans tall and had six arms, each with finger with piercing white claws. Its abdomen had several pieces of armor with just enough missing to allow flexibility along with circular patches of armor on its back, each popping with a poisonous red and yellow ooze. Its head was dragonic, fangs lining all of its jaw bone as tentacles sprang from the top of its head, sharp white spikes at the end of each. It gave off a war cry, its red eyes burning like death itself.

The woman running down the street screamed again, one of the beast's tails sliding underneath her legs and knocking her to the ground. As she rolled over, her eyes widened at the sight of two yellow stinger being raised above her.

The six girls were all frozen in place, their bodies trembling in terror at the Grimm created from nightmares. It was as if their feet had been glued to the ground by fear itself. But as the woman before them screamed, something clicked on inside Rosa's head. It was as if a lightning bolt had just shot through her entire body.

The redhead could suddenly feel her racing heart beat inside her head, listening as it began to slow down. Every muscle in her young body flexed, her jaw tightening as her hands balled up into tight fist. The stone in her pocket began to throb in time with her heart, growing warmer with each passing second.

Without even thinking, her hand went straight to her pocket. She grabbed onto the red stone as tight as she could, her knuckles turning white from the grip. She flashed her teeth, her eyes narrowing as the world around her froze in time.

She bolted forward in the stilled world, skidding to a stop in front of the woman. She held up her hand which held the stone, the world around her regaining motion.

The woman heavily gasped at the sudden appearance of the young redhead girl in front of her. She had came out of thin air from her eyes. She then gasped louder, nearly screaming again as one of the snake tails came down.

Rosa grunted, the stinger striking the red stone in her hand. Her feet were pushed back slightly, the ground underneath her cracking from the force of the blow. Though through the impact, her arm remained straight and unfazed.

The stone began to fade away, the stinger not piercing her palm as it did. A sparkling red aura began to grow across her body, starting with her hand and moving downward. It burned away her current clothes, letting them fall off her body in red glowing ashes that faded while replacing them with a new outfit.

A pair of white gloves formed around her hands, a red rim on the end. A soft smile began to form as a red and white sailor outfit appeared across her body as well as a pair of red knee high boots.

She brought us her other hand just as the glove formed, catching the other stinger with another soft grunt. There was a new found strength burning inside of her, and was ready to use it.

Rosa froze time again, letting the Grimm be as she picked up the woman and took her several feet away. As time resumed, the woman looked up at her with frightened eyes, glancing between her and the beast which was now a distance away. "Wh-Who... who are you?" She gulped, looking back at the young girl.

Smiling, the redhead gave a small shrug with a smile. "I-" She stopped herself, blinking slowly. "I have no idea." She softly shook her head, turning around to face the Grimm. She ran forward, jumping up into the air. In her right hand, a wide broadsword burned into existence like her clothing did. It was red and looked as if it was made of solid energy. Her left hand grabbed the bottom of the handle, her hands both twisted to tighten her grip as she cried out, slashing at the monster before her.

Blinking slowly, Jack reached into her pocket and pulled out her orange stone. She grinned, flipping it into the air like a coin. She swung her right arm around, snatching up the stone with a swift motion and brought it towards her chest. "Go, go, Power-"

"Jack!" Lem snapped with narrowed eyes. She crossed her arms and pouted with a heavy huff. "Wrong fandom, you silly."

She chuckled, swiping her nose with her thumb. "I know, I know. I thought it would be cool." Her grin didn't even fade as the fear and terror inside of her began to vanish, the same aura and clothing change happening to her as did Rosa, but this time it was orange.

"Come on, guys!" She sprinted forward. "We might actually be able to save this sorry town and do something worth actual wild for once!" She held her arms out, an orange glowing double bladed axe forming in her grip.

Lem gulped pulling out her yellow stone. She took a deep breath, holding it close with both hands as she shut her eyes. "Please don't give me a close range weapon. That thing is disgusting and I don't want to be near it." She took a deep breath, her yellow sailor outfit, gloves, and boots appearing as did a glowing yellow bow in her left hand. She smiled, pulling back the string as an arrowhead formed. "Thank you!" She shut one eye, slowing down time as she fired. The Sephet Slayer not even able to react fast enough as the arrow drove into its left eye. It howled in pain, thrashing around as time regained normal flow.

"I guess we're warriors now?" Pi raised an eyebrow, her breathing slightly shaky as she pulled the green stone from her hoodie pocket. "Okasan and otosan would have a heart attack on the spot if they knew what I was about to do..." She sighed, shaking her head as her normal clothes burned away with the green aura, the green sailor outfit taking its place.

"I mean, just don't tell them." Sky muttered, pulling out her blue stone. "Not like any of our parents would believe us anyway." She rolled her eyes a bit before staring at the stone. She watched as it vanished, blue aura engulfing her body as her blue and white uniform formed across her body.

"Fair point." The green hair girl faintly smirked, lowering her stance as she held up her hands. In them a green energy traditional katana formed. She shook her head, moving the hair from her face before she ran forward, the tip of her blade scratching across the ground.

She faintly chuckled back, shaking her head as she looked back at Ami. "Come on. Might as well put these magical stones to use." She began to charge ahead, her athletic strength from before combined with her new found strength giving her incredible speed. As she held out her hands, a thick staff with a diamond on top formed in blue. She swung it like a lacrosse stick, a ball of blue energy coming from the diamond and striking the Sephet Slayer in the chest.

"Um... I don't wear skirts..." Ami muttered, her hand slightly raised. "Or gloves. Of boots. Or anything like that." Her arm lowered with a heavy sigh. Her eyes then grew wide as the stone in her pocket began to glow violet and warm up. "Wait! No, no, no!" She shook her hands around.

A couple seconds later, she was growling with her hands balled up in tight fist and her head lowered. Her eye twitched slightly as she looked at the ridiculous outfit she was wearing. "I'm killing that thing so I can get out of this." She mumbled, pulling her left arm up. In it, a large mace made of violet energy appeared as she rested it on her shoulder. "I don't like people seeing my arms and legs." She huffed, walking towards the Grimm at a normal pace.

"You know! I've read about these kinds of Grimm!" Rosa shouted, freezing time. She slashed at its armor plated chest, doing some damage before jumping back as time resumed and the Sephet Slayer lashed its hands where she once was standing. "They normally bury themselves underground!"

"I have heard that too!" Pi narrowed her eyes while gritting her teeth. She held the katana up in front of her, taking a deep breath. Suddenly green blurs bolted across the beast, slashing it all across its body. She suddenly skidded back, her feet causing smoke to form across the ground. "Cool." She smiled, twirling the katana around.

"Did you just send yourself forward in time to attack it rapidly in a short amount of time?" Jack raised an eyebrow, bringing her axe down on one of the tails and cutting it off. "Because if so, that's really cool." She winked, jumping back to dodge the Grimm howling in pain.

"You think that this thing was in the cliff we fell off of, Rosa?" Sky sent several balls of energy towards the Sephet Slayer, causing it to stumble back. "You think that's why it crumbled the way it did?"

"That's my only guess." The redhead replied. "That's the only way i think a Grimm of this size could get past the borders."

"Maybe it was looking for these stones!" Lem shouted, taking a step back as she slowed time. She launched six arrows, each hitting the joints on the several gnarly arms the monster had. Unable to move quick enough, the creature was struck by each of them. She jumped away as it began to move fast again, looking around. "Or maybe it was listening to someone and trying to get the stones for them!"

Up above on the rooftop of a building, a figure stood on the ledge. He had on a pair of black combat boots and black pants. A long black jacket covered his torso and arms, it drapping down to the back of his shins. He had a pair of leather gloves, matching the rest of his color scheme, and a hood that shrouded his face in darkness.

"So you found yourselves new hosts before I had the chance to find you." His voice was low as he growled softly, his white teeth flaring up against the shadows of his body and face. His eyes were narrowed as he watched blurs of color attack a darkened creature. "At least one of you weren't reborn. I won't have to deal with the destruction of time anymore." He flung his jacket as he turned around, stepping off the ledge and walking away.

As Pi skidded back from another attack, her eyes widened as a the tail of the Sephet Slayer wrapped around her. "Oh shoot!" She grimaced, feeling it tighten around. She groaned, thankful for the aura protecting her.

"Pi!" Sky shouted, grinding her teeth. Her eyes narrowed as she darted towards her, resetting time before her friend was trapped. She shoved her out of the way, grunting heavily as the Grimm wrapped around her instead. "Gruah!" She jerked around a bit.

"How about, nope!" Jack took a deep breath, sending the flow of time backwards. This time, as Sky shoved Pi out of the way, the oranged haired girl tackled the blue haired girl. Both of them rolling out of the way just in time. Taking a few deep breaths, she reached over and patted Sky's shoulder. "I got your back." She smiled with a wink.

Swaying from side to side, the Sephet Slayer roared with a pained cry. There were several injuries all across its body. It moved its head around, narrowing its one good eye at the violet haired girl stepping up.

"I got this, guys." Ami faintly smiled, grunting as she swung the hefty mace around. She jumped up, giving off a war cry as she brought it down on top of the beast's head. "Let's! Loop! This! You! Freak!" She shouted, with each word she spoke, the moment in time where she struck the Grimm repeated. After five blows, she let time flow correctly as she jumped down, bringing the mace over her shoulder with a grunt.

"Now's your shot!" Lem shouted, looking back at Rosa.

"Gotcha!" The redhead shouted back. She twirled her broadsword into a reverse grip and jumped up. "See you later!" She screamed, spinning around with her weapon out. The dazed and confused Sephet Slayer swayed, slowly moving its head up to look at the young girl. When it did, its whole body jerked. Rosa softly chuckled, a smile on her face as she landed on the ground.

As she stood up, the head of the Grimm fell off, its body disintegrating immediately afterwards. She turned around, looking back at her friends with a smile. "We just killed a Grimm." She chuckled a bit.

Slowly, out from the buildings, men and women, even children and families, started to emerge. They all seemed extremely confused on what had just happened. More importantly, how six girls conquered a creature of darkness.

"Who... are you?" One man finally asked, holding an infant in his arms.

"I... uh, well..." Jack blinked a few times, her weapon disappearing as did the others. She then eyed her friends.

"We kinda look like a rainbow!" Lem smiled, jumping up and down a bit.

"And we control time." Pi added in.

"I mean, we don't exactly have a name." Sky muttered to the crowed.

Ami rolled her eyes, crossing her arms. "You know, all superheroes have names."

"So you guys are superheroes!" A small boy smiled, jumping up and down. "Oh that's so cool! There is superheroes protecting Fabula now!"

"Wait! Guys!" Rosa's eyes went wide. "I'm going to miss dance practice! We should go!"

"Right, right." Jack nodded, saluting the crowd with two fingers. "Later, y'all." She smiled.

"See ya." Pi smiled a bit, holding up a peace sign.

As the group of girls ran off, a whisper in the crowd began to turn into an uproar of talking. The people began to talk about the mysterious heroes that saved the city and how they could use magic, or something that had to be at least related to magic. But through all the rumors, there was one thing that everyone could agree on. One single thing.

Back at The Tree House, on the table where all the makeshift maps were drawn, there was a newspaper cutting with the heading _Rainbow Time Dancers Save The Town_. Underneath it, there was a map drawn in colored pencils and crayons, showing the way up and around the mysterious cliff that gave these six girls their extraordinary gifts.


	2. Orientation

_"When the leaves turn orange, it means the seasons are changing and a great transaction is taking place, but take heed, not all transitions are peaceful." - Roy G. Biv_

Laying on her bed, underneath a thin orange blanket, Jack was curled up around her dog, Goldie, who was laying on top of the blanket. Both of them were sound asleep. The dog was breathing softly, his chest rising and falling at a slow pace as warm air escaped his nose on every exhale. Every now and then his front right paw would twitch, bumping up against Jack's hand, her arm resting across his body.

She was curled up around him, hugging his body close as she could. Her breath came in and out gently, her mouth just slightly open as small noises came from it due to her breathing. She started to stir a bit, groaning softly as sunlight began to peer through her window and fall upon her face. "I... don't want to get up... and go to school..." She grumbled before hearing footsteps from the front of the house. Goldie's ears twitched as he slowly lifted up his head.

"Mom..." Jack muttered, quickly sitting up, her eyes wide. "Dad..." In an instant, her bare feet hit the wooden floor as she rushed towards her door while wearing an oversized orange shirt and a pair of black shorts. Goldie too jumped up, his ears flopping as he launched himself onto the floor with his nails clattering against it.

"Come on, boy." She tossed the door open, watching as her dog bolted out with scrambling feet. "Hold up! I didn't mean that fast!" She shouted, running behind him as she left her door open.

Her eyes quickly darted inside her parent's bedroom, seeing nothing but a messy bed and a few dirty clothes. There wasn't a single sign of life. She shook her head, pressing her feet harder and faster against the floor. "Mom! Dad!" She called out, skidding to a stop inside the kitchen as she heard the front door slam shut.

Jack blinked very slowly, softly breathing as she lowered her head. "Always here for a second then gone the next..." Her jaw tightened as her hands balled up into tight fist. She heard Goldie whine, scratching at the door to follow the other two people in his family that were never around. She sniffed, reaching up to rub her eyes a bit. "Stupid. Stupid thinking I could see them." She shook her head, slowly reaching into her pocket and pulling out her orange time stone.

She thought for a moment, contemplating on whether or not she should go backwards in time. She still had no clue how these magical rocks worked, or if there would be any side effects, but seeing her parents before she left for school...

She finally scoffed, shaking her head as she tossed her stone onto the table. "Not even worth it." She muttered, heading towards the cabinets. "Come here, Goldie! Food time!" She suddenly smiled, softly chuckling as she heard the pitter patter of canine footsteps. She flipped her orange hair, winking down at her dog who sat down beside her with his tongue hanging out and what seemed to be a smile on his face. "Oh! You are so silly!" She laughed, opening the cabinet and pulling out a metal bowl along with a small bag of dog food that was salmon flavor.

"Sure, sure, sure, sure, I am!" She said in a low voice, glancing down at Goldie who tilted his head. "Just give me food pleaaaaase!" His tail began to wag, rapidly beating against the floor.

"Okay, okay." Jack said in defence, placing the bowl down as she squated. She quickly began filling it with kibble. Before she even finished, the golden retriever was already shoving his snout into the bowl. She rolled her eyes, softly laughing as she stood back up and put the bag away. "Love ya too, boy." She smiled to herself as she began to look through the kitchen, trying to find something for her to eat.

Though, there wasn't really much for her to find, despite her heavy searches. And as time passed, she eventually had to give up on her scavenge and say goodbye to Goldie for the day. She honestly would have loved to stay home, it's not like her parents would care if she did or didn't, and spending the day with Goldie sounded so much better than the idiots at that academy, but something always made her go. She didn't know what it was exactly, but her best guess was that it was her friends who were there every second of the day with her.

Meanwhile, Rosa sat at a large dark brown wooden table made from oak with a napkin in her lap in the large dining hall of her mansion like home, already dressed and prepared for school. On a plate in front of her there was a large Belgian waffle with almond butter and all natural syrup. Next to it was a small scoop of scrambled eggs and a few small pieces of ham. To the upper left was a bowl of sliced strawberries, blueberries, sliced bananas, and apple slices. To the left of that was a much smaller bowl of yogurt. In the upper right, there was a cup of organic one percent milk, already half drank.

The redhead picked up her fork in her left hand, the knife in her right, as she began to carefully cut a piece of her waffle off. All while making sure her posture was straight and elbows were low and off the table. "Madame Baile even says that if I keep improving and working as hard as I do that she might give me the lead in the next performance." She smiled, looking up at her parents as she took a small bite of her food.

"Oh? Really?" Her mother paused as she went to scoop up some oats and berries from her bowl. There was alo a dash of almond milk in it, not too much though. "That's wonderful!" She was a beautiful woman, her silk like light red hair was pulled back into a short ponytail as her crimson eyes sparkled in the light. She was already in her emergency room uniform, proudly wearing the badge that said Nurse Buds across her heart. "Well I will definitely make sure I have time to come wath you if you do." She smiled with a nod, setting down her utensil before picking up her glass of orange juice.

"And I'll be there too, sweetie." Rosa's father gave a gentle nod. His hair was a dark blue, almost black color, and was combed over to his right. He also had a faint beard, it neatly trimmed and cut short. "You're my favorite dancing daughter." Like his wife, he too was wearing his hospital outfit. His badge reading Doctor Buds.

"I am your ONLY daughter, father." Rosa gave off a small laugh, cutting off another piece of her waffle. She quickly chewed it and swallowed before speaking again. "Though I wouldn't mind a sister. Or a brother." She softly laughed, a hand over her mouth.

"Your mother works in the emergency room, Rosa." Her father flashed a smile, cutting off a piece of his waffle which had several slices of strawberries on it and no syrup. "NOT neonatology."

"I mean, I wouldn't mind working there for a little." She eyed him back smiling.

"Uh... what?" The young redhead raised an eyebrow confused.

"Nothing, nothing." Her mother sighed, reassuring her. "Your father and I are just a little tired from work. With all the attacks happening lately and that Sephet Slayer, it has been exhausting."

Rosa blinked in the silence as she set her knife down and slowly began to eat her eggs. "I guess we should be a little grateful for those... oh what were they called, Rainbow Time Dancers, huh? I heard they got rid of that Grimm real quick." She smiled a little more.

"Grateful? I don't know about that..." Her father muttered quietly with a sigh. "They are inexperienced obviously and reckless. They may have done good, but they had also caused a lot of trouble. And here we are calling them heroes."

"Honey..." Her mother sighed, shaking her head as she placed her hands in her lap. "Listen, Rosa, what he is trying to say is that those girls looked young and they didn't know the first thing of combat. And even though they killed a Grimm that would have destroyed a fair amount of the town, they caused quite a bit of damage themselves. They don't deserve the title of heroes. Not yet at least." She grabbed her spoon, going back to her oats. "Understand?"

"Yeah, I do, mother." Rosa nodded in agreement, though with her question that she hoped she would get a little extra praise from her parents even if it wasn't direct, it ended up leaving her with more questions. Did she and her friends do the right thing? And also... if her parents saw a picture of these six girls, how did they not notice who they were?

She sighed softly, shaking her head as she glanced up at the large chandelier hanging from the ceiling. It sparkled light gold and diamonds, the class it was made out of completely crystal clear with the bronze polished to perfection.

Waking up from the sound of a glass bottle shattering on the ground followed by a rageful yelling fit, Ami groaned softly to herself with a sigh. She shifted around underneath a violet colored blanket that had a few holes, curling up while on her couch. She pulled the fabric over her face, clenching her eyes shut as she heard her father staggering around the place.

"Where's... where's that freakin' flask... of mine..." He belched, grunting as he walked into a chair and stumbled over it. Ami sighed, slowly peeking through one of the holes in the blanket to look at him. He had dark purple hair that was shaggy and a mess along with thick scruff on his chin. His face was darker than hers, wrinkled and oily from the years. He used to be a gorgeous man, classy suit and tie like, but that was years ago.

Before her mother had simply up and left them.

Ami had told herself she had moved past it, even told her friends the same thing, but deep down she knew. She still wasn't over that betrayal. Not even after all these years.

Her father slowly stumbled around for a while, swaying in every direction before he somehow miraculously made it to the bathroom. Without shutting the door, he hunched over, falling onto his knees over the toilet as he began to vomit.

The smell didn't even affect Ami anymore. She was extremely used to it by this point that sometimes she swore she couldn't even smell it. She tossed the blanket off her, throwing it onto the back of the couch as she walked towards the kitchen. As always, her hair was a messy side ponytail over her right shoulder as she wore her sweatshirt and sweatpants. Though her father's rags didn't look any better.

Hearing her father puke more, she heavily sighed and opened up a small cupboard. She pulled out a plastic cup and quickly filled it with water. She slowly started to walk out of the kitchen, rubbing her left eye a bit as she held the cup of water in her right hand. She stepped beside him, placing the cup by his right leg. "Here." She muttered, clearly half asleep. "You said to make sure you stay hydrated the next time-" She stopped herself, ducking down and stepping back to miss a swing of his arm.

"Stop talkin' so loud! For the love of Oum!" He slurred on his words, groaning deeply as he placed his hands on the seat of the toilet, pushing his head inside as he began to throw up again.

Ami scoffed a bit, crossing her arms as she turned away and walked off with yet another yawn. "Whatever." She mumbled to herself, eyeing a clock hanging on the wall. Even though it didn't say the correct time, she knew exactly what the real time was by looking at the broken clock.

"I have twenty minutes to get to school..." She sighed deeply, walking back into the kitchen as she stretched her arms. "Alright, let's see." She scratched her head, opening a cabinet which was overflowing with small snack sized bags of chips. "Um, salt and vinegar sounds good. Yeah." She nodded, grabbing the blue bag labeled so. She slipped on a pair of shoes, not even caring to comb her hair as she headed towards the door.

"Yay, seventh grade." She waved her hands around, speaking with exasperation before she grabbed a small black and purple backpack with one large pocket and a smaller one. She threw it over her left shoulder as she opened the door with her right hand which was also holding her bag of chips. "Later, papa!" She called out, shutting the door behind her just before he started to yell.

At the same time, at Eritque Arcus Academy, Jack swerved between several other students while riding her bicycle through the playground of the school. Still riding at lightning speed, she jumped off, her feet hitting the ground as she ran beside it with a soft grunt. She slowed the momentum of the bike, bringing it to a stop just in front of a bike rack. Picking up the front wheel, she placed it over the metals bars with a small huff of air.

"Still fast enough." She just barely smirked as she reached up, unclipping her helmet and hanging it from her handle bars on the straps. Unlike the other students, she didn't have a backpack. When it came to carrying her books, she would hold them in her hand. And much like Pi and Ami, she got notebooks from the lost and found. They weren't in perfect condition, but the did do their job.

She stepped up the stairs to the front doors of the academy, passing by a boy with brown hair. "Hey, Jack! What's up!" He held out his hand, high-fiving her.

She smiled back. Pulling her wavy hair over her left shoulder. "Just enjoying the fresh air before we get thrown into prison again." She joked with a wink. "Later, Marron!" She gave him a nod, pushing the doors forward as she stepped inside the school.

The sound of shoes scruffing against the floor quickly filled her ears. The echoes of lockers slamming shut filled the hallways and went in every direction. Student's voices erupted, multiple conversations going on at once. Though, there was one voice Jack wasn't particularly proud to hear.

"There! There she is!" Rose's voiced snapped, breaking the orange haired girl from her trance. As she turned her head to the side, she saw Rose and a well dressed man in a black suit and tie. His hair was the same color as his clothes, cut short with a neatly shaven face.

"Huh?" Jack raised an eyebrow, crossing her arms as she shifted her weight onto one foot. "What's this about?" She asked innocently.

"You KNOW!" The pink haired girl narrowed her eyes, pointing at the other. "She's the one who punched me in the face the other day, Professor Black." She pouted, crossing her arms as her pink curls pounced.

"I see." The man behind her nodded, his hands resting at his sides loosely. "Do you have anything to say to that accusation, Miss Lantern."

"I um..." Jack blinked a few times, her mind not thinking of a good comeback. She finally sighed, reaching into her pocket with a sigh. "Let's retry this." She sighed to which Black raised and eyebrow.

To her, the world went in reverse until she was on her bicycle once again. She jumped off it, quickly taking off her helmet. Quickly walking up the steps, she smiled with a wink at the brown haired boy as she fist bumped him. "Hey, Marron." He gave a soft chuckle in response, nodding his head at her.

"Okay, I got this." Jack smiled as she entered the building, waiting for the cue.

"There! There she is!" Rose's voice snapped once again as she walked up, stopping a few feet from her with Black standing behind her.

"Excuse me?" She raised an eyebrow, giving off a confused expression.

"You know!" Her eyes narrowed as she looked up at the headmaster of the school. "She's the one who punched me in the face the other day, Professor Black!"

"I see..." He gave a slow nod, staring at Jack with peculiar black eyes. "Is that true, Miss Lantern?" He raised a brown, his body shifting.

"Not in the slightest!" She protested, pushing her orange hair behind her ear. "Why would I come to school when I don't even need to? That's crazy!"

"That's because you were meeting with Rosalinda! You're nothing but a little group of bandits!" Rose snapped, eyes narrowing coldly as she glared into the orange pair before her.

"Well at least we can kick your butt, unlike your band of..." Sh trailed off, sighing at what she just said. "Shoot." She quickly reached into her pocket, Black narrowing his eyes.

Jack roughly rubbed her eyebrows as she jumped off her bike for the third time, landing with a soft grunt. She immediately bolted up the stairs, hitting her forearms up against someone else's. "S'up, Marron." She flashed a smile, glancing back.

"S'up, Jack." He gave her a two fingered salute, watching her rush inside.

"Okay, come on , come on." She tapped her foot rapidly, waiting waiting for that voice.

"There! There she is!" Rose's voiced shot through the air like a bullet. "She's the one who punched me in the face the other day, Professor Black." She let out a huff of air, her luscious locks bouncing.

"Are you sure it was her?" He raised an eyebrow, looking down at her as he moved his arms across his chest.

"Yes!" She tossed her arms down, stomping her foot. Her spoiled side showing. "I am!"

"If I may speak?" Jack raised a hand, slowly lowering it at the headmaster's nod. "I was here at the school two days ago, one of my friends takes summer classes and we all decided to meet up, but I didn't see Rose at all." She shook her head. "And the last time I saw her was months ago on the last day of school. I don't know what this is about. My friends would vouch for me."

Seeing Black nod with an approved look on his face, he slowly turned back to Rose. "I can't do much about this. It is her word against yours, Miss Jolie."

The small pink girl gave off a small yet high pitched scream, stomping her foot. "That's not fair! You work here to protect students and Jacklyne is a hazard to my health! My father could fire you!"

"Miss Jolie." He crossed his arms. "I work for the school board, not your father." He took a step back, nodding towards Jack. "Good day, Miss Lantern." He nodded towards Rose. "Miss Jolie." With that he turned on his heels, striding away.

Rose growled, glaring at the orange haired girl. "This isn't over." She muttered, her hands balling up into fist as she whipped her head away and walked off.

"Getting in trouble already?"

A voice came from behind her, making Jack turn around. She then smiled, seeing Sky walk up with a sports duffle bag colored blue and white over her right shoulder. "Pff." She reached up, rubbing the back of her head. "It never ends."

She rolled her eyes, shaking her head a little as she stepped up and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry. She'll get what's coming to her one day." She reassured.

"I surely hope so." Rosa walked inside the school, shaking her hair a bit. Like usual, she had her school bag and lunch box firmly gripped in her hands. "I know I'm tired of that wicked attitude of hers."

"Dito." The orange haired girl rolled her eyes, eyeing Sky's bag. "Guessing practice is starting up right after school?"

"Yep." She sighed some. "But at least this means we will be ready for the season later on."

"It also means you can't hang out with us much after school anymore." Pi came up to her friends, walking down the hallway with a green and black hiking style day pack on her back, fully loaded with books. "Which means less time for magic." She waved her fingers around.

"Speaking of that..." Rosa started, trailing off, watching as Lem suddenly pounced her way into the group.

"Guys! Guys! Guys! Look!" She held up a pale brown messenger bag. "Mommy and daddy got me a new bag for school!"

Jack blinked once, smiling at the blonde before holding out her fist. "Nice, Lem."

"I know!" She squealed, punching her fist back before bouncing around again. "I'm so happy!"

"Well, we're all almost here. Anyone seen Ami?" Sky raised an eyebrow, looking around.

"I'm here! I'm here!" Said violet colored girl panted, bursting through the front doors as she stumbled inside. "I'm... here..." She let out a heavy huff of air, her hands on her knees. She then started to chuckle, hearing the school bell ring. "Nailed it..." She smiled.

Rosa shook her head with her own smile as she started to walk away from the group. "Come on, we have orientation to get to." She glanced back at her friends. "And I would like to not be late when we have a new headmaster. We don't need him thinking we are trouble makers like the last."

"That wasn't my fault!" Lwm complained as they started to follow. "Jack was the one-" She was cut off, a finger on her lips.

"We don't speak of that. Remember?" Jack narrowed her eyes before smiling as she reached up and ruffled the blonde's hair with a faint chuckle.

A couple minutes passed, the school bell ringing again. The halls completely empty aside from a few scattered papers, and dead silent. Professor Black slowly walked down these halls, his dress shoes tapping against the tile floor with each step he took. He stroked his chin with his left hand, his right hand holding up his elbow.

"No, no." He shook his head, lowering his arms with a sigh. "I can't say that to the students. They'll think I'm crazy." He finally sighed again, stopping in front a set of double doors. He took a deep breath, bracing his hands up against it. "Just, encourage them, Black." He shook his head, pushing the doors open as a rush of a crowd of students talking overcame the silence he was in moments ago.

As he stepped inside, the gymnasium grew quiet. Their voices turning into small murmurs before fading away and going silent. Black took a deep breath, moving his hands behind his back as he stood up straight with dignity and pride.

"Students," He began to shift his eyes across the children sitting on the bleachers as he spoke. "I am quite sure all of you have heard of your former headmaster's resignation, and I am also fairly certain all of you are already bored of this speech. But according to the school board, I sadly have to do this."

He smiled faintly, hearing a small laugh come up from the crowd before going silent again. "My name is Professor Black." He motioned to himself with his hand before giving a gentle bow with his head. "I know I am new here but I wish for you to treat me as well as you did your previous headmaster. I am a very fair man, I assure you this. If you are to mess up once or forget something one day, I will most likely let that slide."

His arms then crossed. "But with my leniency, I will also expect much more out of you. This is an academy. It is a place for learning and a place where all of you can further your minds. With that said, this is not a place for petty squabbles between opposing sides. This is a place for gaining knowledge, not instigating fights and goofing off."

He let his arms fall to his side, hanging there gently. "I hope we can come to terms with each other." He gave a small nod. "Now off to your first classes. All of you." He turned around, starting to walk off. As he did, he glanced back at the crowd, eyeing out that specific orange hair. "I can not wait to get to know all of you."

"Well," Sky blinked a few times, watching the new headmaster step out as she stood and pulled her duffle bag over her shoulder. "He seems pretty cool. I like him." She looked over at Rosa, smiling with a nod.

The redhead rolled her eyes, shaking her head a little as her fingers curled around her lunch box and school bag. "You're just happy this headmaster doesn't know how absolutely insane the six of us are." She smiled back as she stood.

"Yet." A wicked grin formed across her face as she held up her right index finger. "Can't forget to add yet to that statement." She started to walk down the steps of the bleachers, the other girls following.

"You know what would be cool, guys?" Lem looked around at her friends, her left pointer finger holding her chin up as her yellow eyes sparkled. "What if we didn't get into trouble at all this year?" Her smile grew as she let her arms hang down at her sides, softly swinging them. "Doesn't that sound fun?"

Sky glanced back at the young blonde before looking over her at the orange haired girl stepping behind her. Jack and her exchanged looks, blinking a few times The two then quickly burst into laughter, the blue haired girl rubbing her eyes. "Jack not get in trouble?! You're joking, right?! She ALREADY got called out today!"

"It's true! Can't lie!" Jack shook her head, rubbing her eyes as her laugh died down.

Lem gave a soft pout, crossing her arms as her hair gently swayed back and forth. "You're such a trouble maker, you know?" She glanced at her.

Chuckling, the orange brute wrapped her arm around the blonde's neck. "You know you love me. I make things entertaining! Besides... it wasn't my fault. Rose started it."

"Sounds like her." Pi muttered, pulling her sleeves over hr hands. "Someone really should put her in her place."

"I can second that..." Ami said quietly, yawning with her sleeves pushed up over her forearms slightly. She then stopped, looking down a hallway with a sign saying doors number 380-450. "Hey, my first class is down this way. Catch you guys at lunch or if we have the same classes?" She eyed the group.

"Forever and always." Rosa smiled back at her, giving a nod as she lifted up her arm holding her lunch box, waving it along with her hand. "Later!"

As the morning went on, so did the six young girls lives... and so did their quest for heroism.

"I actually heard a Beowolf roar, man." A boy in a red and black plaid shirt, jeans with holes, and mud encrusted boots. He leaned across his desk, shaggy black hair dangling over his eyes. He flashed a smile, showing a missing front tooth from the upper part of his mouth. "It was right outside my bedroom window too. Pa said ma would have screamed if she hadn't passed out in fear."

In the same classroom, Pi looked over from her notebook, eyeing Jack who was mindlessly staring out the window. "Hey." She gently kicked her, getting her attention. Though it shouldn't of been concern to her, she had far many other things to worry about, she couldn't help but worry about the close Grimm encounter her classmate had.

Maybe it was because she finally had the power to stop the creatures of the dark. With these weird magical time stones, all her friends had the power to help the town of Fabula. They were granted a gift by the gods, they should at least use it to help people instead of hoarding it. That wasn't what power was for. With great power there came a great responsibility, maybe protecting the city was it.

"Huh?" Jack blinked, looking over. She slid her arm down, her head previously resting on the palm of her hand. "Yeah, what's up?" She whispered, doing her best not to get caught by the teacher.

Pi gave a sigh, tapping her pencil against her notebook as she tilted her head back towards the student and his story about the Grimm. She quickly eyes him with her eyes, looking back at her friend quickly.

She raised an eyebrow, leaning back in her seat with her eyebrows raised. While there, she stretched her back, giving off a soft groan. She listened to his story for a bit before she laid her arms back out across her desk. Even though she didn't want to make it seem like she care, she nodded with a gulp. "I know what you're thinking. And I agree." She whispered in a hushed tone, glancing at the green haired girl before looking away.

Elsewhere, Sky sat with narrowed eyes as she listened to her current events teacher go on and on. With her right hand holding the side of her head up, her elbow pressing up against a stack of books, hr left was in her hoodie pocket, twirling her blue stone around in her fingers. Her right leg also bounced rapidly, her energy building up from sitting to long as her left leg was slightly pushed back.

"Those in power may be doing their very best to control this massive wave of Grimm attacking Fabula lately," The instructor went on, writing short handed notes across a chalk board. "The amount of warriors on hand seem to be dwindling. More and more men are wanting an education rather than picking up a sword and fighting for their people. They think others will fight for them." She sighed, pausing for a moment. "Though they couldn't be more wrong."

Taking that in, Sky slowly eyed her pocket, flipping the stone between her fingers a little more before she stopped. She let out a small and quiet exhale of air, shaking her head a bit as she looked back up at the chalk board. Maybe it wasn't a coincidence that her friends and she had found these stones. Maybe it was fate. Or maybe it was something far more powerful.

Freezing time still in the middle of a lecture, Rosa twirled a folded up piece of paper in her fingers, tossing it across the room onto Lem's desk before resuming time.

The blonde blinked a little at the sudden appearance of the paper. After a moment, she shook her head, reaching out and unfolding it across her notes which were actually drawings of animals. On the paper was one simple question. Do you think what we are doing is right?

She blinked, quickly picking up her pencil with a dog eraser cap on it, writing down her own message. When she finished, she folded it back up and glanced back at Rosa. With a nod, the redhead held out her hand below her desk. With that, Lem slowed time to a near stop, tossing the note back.

The second it touched the redheads hand, time resumed. She snatched it up with ease, bringing it to the top of her desk as she unfolded it. What do you mean? Shouldn't we help people? And help fight Grimm now that we can?

Sighing, she quickly wrote back, freezing time and throwing it over. As things ran normally, Lem unfolded the paper, eyeing Rosa's writing. That's not what I mean. Helping people is always good. But what if they don't want OUR specific help? Do any of us really know what we are doing?

She gave a sigh, looking back at Rosa. She then shrugged softly, folding the note back up and sticking it in her pocket. She was right, what did any of them know about being warriors? She shook her head, brushing off the thought as she picked up her pencil again and began to doodle across her notes.

An hour later, Ami was sitting in a silent classroom, staring at her math homework as she pretended to work. It was only until she saw Lem's head pop up from the window in the door did her head tilt in confusion though. She blinked rapidly, raising an eyebrow.

Outside of the room, while holding a restroom pass, Lem took a deep breath, slowing time down to a near stop again. She quickly ran inside the classroom, placing the note she and Rosa had written on Ami's desk before darting out. She gently shut the door, letting out a small gasp for air as time resumed normal speed. She peeked back in the window, pointing towards the note before running off.

Dazed and confused, the violet haired girl tilted her head in the other direction. "Uh..." She blinked rapidly before looking down at her desk. She blinked once, sitting up straight at the note sitting above her homework. She quickly read through it before she shoved it into her small backpack without even folding it.

She looked around, giving a small sigh. Sure, they were new at this whole superhero thing, but how hard could it be? It's wasn't like their was orientation or anything of the sorts. All they could do was get up and go for it. Maybe that was what they were suppose to do. Maybe the superhero world was dominated by those who learned from trial and error. Though... that seemed like a lot of work. Plus, superheroes weren't real. There was only warriors with auras and semblances and Dust. There was nothing special like magic about them,

Ami sighed, shaking the thoughts from her head as she tapped her pencil across her sheet of math problems. She let her head lower. Laying her head on the desk as she began to write.

Half of the day had come and gone, the group of six girls all getting antsy as they waited for the lunch bell to ring. Even Rosa, who had been going to school nearly year round couldn't wait for class to end. She wanted out more than ever. With hearing all the talk about Grimm attacks, the four walls felt like they were closing in on her, making the room smaller and smaller despite the amount of people inside. She wanted out and couldn't have been more excited when the bell rang.

Lem too couldn't have been more please as she heard the bell sound off. It was strange, but it felt like everything was going slower for her. Each second felt like a minute. She decided to assume it was some side effect of her powers. That, or she was just really, really bored while listening to a lecture on the development of science and Dust use.

So the second she the bell rang and ended that class period, the was out the door with her messenger bag draping over her left shoulder to her right side and speed walking down the halls. She dodged between several students, holding onto the strap of her bag extremely tight. Coming to a clearing of students, she let out a huff of air as she slowed her pace and walked up to a set of doors.

"I am starving." She let out, letting her hands fall before she reached up and pushed the doors open. She stepped inside the cafeteria, listening to the noise and bustling of students trying to get their lunch while talking to their friends. Her nose then crinkled as she gave off a small groan, the smell of school cooked food entering her nose. "That... I did not miss though." She sighed softly before yelping with wide yellow eyes as a pair of hands came out of nowhere and shoved her aside.

"Did the lil blondie lose her way?" A boy with shaggy and oily dark hair smirked, crossing his arms. He had on a black jean jacket with the sleeves torn off, a pair of black skinny jeans with holes, black studded points, and a temporary tattoo in the shape of a broken heart on his right arm. "Because I'm sure Blac and Claec and I would like to help out for a little payment." He eyed the two behind him.

The first was a boy with short hair spiked up. He was in a black shirt with a Nevermore Grimm mask on it along with a pair black fingerless gloves, a pair of black pants, side chain, and black tennis shoes. The second had long hair down to his shoulders. Unlike the other two, his hair was well taken care of and washed. He had on a leather zipper jacket, mascara surprisingly, a pair of black jean pants with a few stains from bleach, and old roughed up black sneakers.

"Akrsna..." Lem gulped, moving her hands to clutch the strap to her bag as she stepped back. Despite having fought and killed a Sephet Slayer, she was still fairly frightened of these three. A lot of people were honestly. They were eighth graders who were held back twice. Even teachers gave up on trying to get them to pass. None of them honestly cared about education. Which made them all that much more reckless.

"Yeah, blondie?" He stepped up, his cold dark eyes staring back at her as he let his arms fall to his sides.

She gulped, her knuckles turning white as she gripped her backpack strap tighter. "Go. Away." She demanded, lowering her head some with a few strands of hair falling in front of her face.

The boy took a single step back, blinking once before he scoffed with a smirk. "Looks like you've gain some backbone over the summer." He nodded. "Still doesn't change the fact I want whatever you got for lunch."

"And everyone in town knows hunting season started a week ago." Blac crossed his arms. "Which means the little adopted girl's daddy went out hunting." He shifted his hand, moving his wrist around as he pointed at her in a teasing motion.

Claec smirked himself, flipping his long hair back. "That also means you're gonna be having some jerky about this time. That or some really good roasted chunks of meat."

"So how about you stop messing around and hand it over so no one gets hurt?" Akrsna held up his arm, opening the palm of his hand as he motioned his fingers in a way to tell her to hand some over.

She took a very shaky breath, slowly looking down with a heavy gulp. She had super powers now. She did not need to be afraid of them. "And if I don't...?" She asked quietly, brushing her blonde hair behind her ear. She may not of needed to be afraid, but she was.

He let off a small scoff, stepping closer towards her. "Then I'll just take it." He spat out, lifting up his arm. rds her as he raised his arm. "Then I'll just have to take it." His eyes narrowed before he suddenly stopped, a hand reaching out and grabbing his wrist. "Huh?" He quickly looked up before grunting as he was pushed back into his two friends.

Standing beside Lem, a boy with neatly combed medium length hair retracted his arm and lowered it to his side before sliding it into his blue jeans pocket. He had on a tight fitting red shirt which was tucked into his pants while a yellow belt held up his jeans and a pair of red shoes that looked brand new.

"You alright?" He asked calmly, his hair swaying softly in front of his light blue eyes that locked with Lem's yellow eyes.

"U-Uh..." She gulped, blinking rapidly as she became flustered and blushed. Her face grew extremely red before she quickly lowered her head, her hair hiding her face. "I'm fine." She squeaked softly.

He rolled his eyes, faintly smiling as he stepped up in front of her and crossed his arms. "How about you leave her alone?"

Groaning, Akrsna stepped up towards him. It was more than simply a harassing situation now. Now it was a battle for who had the more guts and glory. "You should think about who you're talking too." His eyes narrowed.

"So should you." The blonde boy moved his hands behind his back, letting his shoulders square as his chest pushed out. "I'm sure you've heard of me. Captain of the football team. On student council for the eighth graders." His eyes narrowed as he stepped up face to face with the gothic boy. "Chad Republica."

Something seemed to flicker in Akrsna's eyes as he took a step back. He softly growled, reaching up and pointing at the girl behind him. "This isn't over-" He stopped himself, and hand grabbing his shoulder and flinging him back harshly.

"What do you think you're doing to Lem?!" Jack snapped, stepping towards him as he stumbled back, nearly falling onto the floor. "Huh?!" Her eyes burned with anger and rage.

Not even giving an answer, the dark haired boy snarled. He stepped back before turning on his heels and walking off with his two lackeys. "Come on, boys." He muttered, glaring back at the orange haired girl.

She snarled back at him before whipping her head around, her orange hair flying. "Now just who the heck are you?!" She stepped towards him, about to shove him as Chad remained completely cool.

"No! Jack! Stop!" Lem shouted, quickly stepping around the boy and placed her hands on her friend's chest. "It's fine! He's fine! He helped me!"

"Helped you what?" Rosa blinked, walking up with her lunchbox in hand. Her eyebrow then raised at the older male blonde who was staring at her. "Um, may I help you?"

He blinked once, quickly shaking his head before he lowered it. "My apologies." He shut his eyes, holding out his arm a bit before he stood up straight again. "My name is Chad. Chad Republica." He motioned back towards Lem. "She was in a situation with the Dark ABC Gang and I stepped in to assist her. I can promise you I didn't mean any harm by it, Rosalinda." He held up his hands in defence.

"You... know my name?" The redhead blinked rapidly, her eyes narrowing slightly as she tilted her head.

"Of course." He gave a slow nod. "Why wouldn't I know my classmates names?" He pointed back at the two behind him. "That's Lem and Jacklyne as well."

She felt the heat rise to her face as she quickly looked down, both her hands now gripping the handle to her lunchbox in front of her. "I... um, well then." She glanced up, taking a deep breath. "If that's the case, I'd prefer if you called me Rosa. And unless you want to be on the floor in pain," She pointed at the orange haired brute. "I advise you call her Jack."

"Duly noted." He nodded, looking back at said girl who simply glared back at him. "Well, it was nice talking to you three... er, two." He corrected himself, inching away from Jack as he gave a soft nod and a small wave towards Rosa. "Though it could have been under better conditions." He glanced at Lem, walking off with a smile and gentle chuckle. "Later."

Jack rolled her eyes, standing up straight as she shook her head and crossed her arms. "Stupid pretty boy." She grumbled before blinking as she saw both Lem and Rosa staring at him as he walked off. Their eyes glazed over softly with hints of red on their cheeks. "Oh you have got to be kidding me..." She sighed heavily, pinching the bridge of her nose.

With her duffel bag stuffed in her locker, Sky came down the lunch line with her tray, picking up two styrofoam cups filled with chicken noodle soup, one with a mixture of fruits, and then a bag of mini cookies and another one with almonds. The last thing she grabbed was an ice cream sandwich, hoping it wouldn't melt.

She stepped up to the cashier, leaning forward a bit. "ID number is 450495. Skyler Bird."

"Gotcha." The lunch lady gave a nod. She was slightly overweight with a pink top on and a white apron. Her gray colored hair held up tightly in a hair net. "White, chocolate, or strawberry?" She asked.

"Chocolate." The blue haired girl muttered. "And also my-" She was cut off by the older woman.

"I know, I know. Your coach already told me. Blue raspberry sports drink." She turned around, grabbing the carton of milk and the bottle before placing them on her tray. "Just got out there and win us another first place." She smiled with a nod.

"No problem." Sky nodded back, grabbing her tray as she moved out of the way for the next student waiting in line. Her eyes quickly scanned the lunchroom, and when she didn't see any of her friends, she shrugged and started walking towards the door. She turned around, pressing it open with her back as she stepped out.

As she began to walk down the hall, several of her classmates past her with a wave or either saying hello in some way before the blue haired girl would hear the cafeteria door open and close with a soft clank. She turned a corner, smiling as she saw her five friends sitting down at the end of it. "Guess we're still going to be loners and eat out here, huh?" She raised an eyebrow, sitting down before placing her tray into the tile floor.

"Forever and always." Pi gave off a soft chuckle, leaning in the corner against the walls.

"It has become our thing." Rosa muttered opening up her lunch box. She pulled out a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, tossing it to Pi. "Here. Mother used crunchy too. She knows how you like it."

"Thanks." The green haired girl gave a nod with a soft smile as she started to take off the plastic.

"You know," Jack held up a finger, waving it a bit. "I always thought it was cool how even though your mom has butlers and maids yet still decides to make your lunch herself."

Rosa shrugged, pulling out a ham and cheese sandwich of her own. "It's always been something she wished her mother would have done for her. She says she doesn't want to make the same mistake with me." She smiled, looking down at her sandwich as she unwrapped it. "It is really sweet though."

"Wish papa would at least give me some money to buy lunch..." Ami grumbled quietly before yawning as she leaned back against a set of lockers.

"Hey, that's why I'm here." Sky smiled, pointing at herself with her thumb. "I can be your papa!" She wiggled her eyebrows around beige grabbing one of the cups filled with chicken noodle soup, sliding it over towards the violet haired girl. "Here. Once you finish that I'll give you your cookies and milk. And once it's all gone I'll give you the ice cream."

Ami gave a soft chuckle, picking up the cup as well as the fork attached to it. "You know, that's cheating using snacks against me."

"Please." She waved her hand. "If I ever cheat at anything, someone better kick me off the soccer team. I could never live with that and coach would flip."

"You're such a nice soccer player." Lem mumbled, pulling out a back of deer jerky from her backpack. She tossed it to Jack along with an apple. As the orange haired girl nodded back as a way to say thank you, the blonde kept speaking. "A lot of them would do anything to cheat and be thought as of better."

"Well I don't need to do that." She leaned back, grabbing her cup of soup as she began to eat. "I'm good enough where I don't need to cheat to play good."

"And that is why you are such a role model player." Pi eyed her, swallowing a bite of her sandwich. "It's why you're so good too, probably."

The blue haired girl shook her head no. "I'm good because I practice." She smiled. "Not because I like to play fair."

"I mean, potato and potato." Lem shrugged, looking over at her as she used the two different ways to say the word. She then pulled out an orange along with a container that had scrambled eggs with pieces of sausage and bacon.

"That's not..." Jack sighed, shaking her head as she took a bite of jerky. "Nevermind."

"Speaking of things not being as they seem..." Rosa started, trailing off as she lowered her sandwich and set it down she then reached over, grabbing her juice box. "We need to talk about, you know, THAT thing." She winked.

Ami blinked a few times, lowering her half eaten cup of soup as a carton of chocolate milk and a bag of cookies were slid over towards her. She quickly picked the two up and began to indulge herself in them. "That note, right?" She yaned.

"Yeah..." Lem nodded, taking a metal spoon and eating the leftover breakfast she was eating for lunch. "That."

"Huh?" Pi raised an eyebrow, leaning forward a little.

"What are you guys talking about?" Sky raised an eyebrow, glancing between the tree who apparently knew what they were talking about.

"Well, my parents and I had a conversation about the new superheroes in town this morning." Rosa glanced around. "They're not..." She sighed and looked down. "They're not too fond of us. And I'm not sure if that's just them or if it's something a bunch of people feel."

"Oh." Jack blinked, looking down at her lap. "I mean, we helped people out. And saved a lot of lives. Why wouldn't they like us?"

"Because we're young and don't have the years of training like warriors do. Well I'm guessing." Pi muttered, staring down at her sandwich. "I mean you can't exactly blame the people."

"Help is help though." Sky added in. "They should at least be thankful for what we did."

"But think about that road we tore up the other day by destroying that Grimm." Lem muttered, taking another bite of her food.

"So what?" Ami raised an eyebrow as she went back to eating her cup of soup. "You want a damaged road or a bunch of civilian casualties?"

"I'm with Ami on this one." Jack pointed at herself with her thumb. "They should love us."

"Listen, listen." Rosa waves her hands around, trying to calm her friends. "I'm just saying, that maybe we shouldn't try anything super big for a bit. Yes the people are happy we saved them, but we are still new at this thing. We should just try to take it slow for a while. Alright?"

Pi gave a sigh, sinking back in the corner as she shut her eyes. "That doesn't sound that bad. We'd still help people and learn how to control this powers more."

"Oh! And before I forget." The redhead shifted around a bit. "Apparently when we, I guess, transform," She rubbed the back of her head. "Our faces don't seem to be recognizable by other people. I think it has to do with something in the magic. But people we known won't know it's us. I don't know how but I think that's the case."

Ami sighed before yawning as she placed the now empty cup on the floor. "You know, we should have stayed home that day." She held up her hands, catching an ice cream sandwich that was thrown at her.

"Better us than someone who would use these powers wrongly." Sky muttered, taking a deep breath as she picked up her cup of fruit. "I hope we can show these people we don't mean them harm. We just want to help them out."

"Yeah, same here, Sky. Same here..." Jack nodded, shaking her head a bit as she took a bite of her apple. She then blinked, eyes widening as she looked at Ami. "Holy cow! How are you already nearly done with that?!" Her eyebrows went high.

"Hm?" The violet haired girl looked up, holding only a tiny corner piece of the ice cream sandwich in her hand. "Oh. I don't know." She shrugged. "It just taste good." She then grinned, eyeing the frozen treat. She quickly stuck her hand in her pocket, grabbing her magical time stone. She then put that last piece in her mouth, the stone in her hand glowing.

"You you're kidding... right, Ami?" Lem blinked, watching as time looped for her friend and repeated her eating the last night over and over.

"Nope." Ami smiled, taking a bite and swallowing before the action looped itself over again. "It taste wonderful." She swallowed again.

Pi couldn't help but softly chuckle, shaking her head as Rosa rolled her eyes. Sky simply blinked a few times before shaking her head as she looked down and grabbed her bag of almonds. Though she didn't want to show it, the blue haired girl felt someone upset that others didn't see her and her friends actions as wonderful. Being the soccer star she was, she wasn't used to failure of any kind.

She sighed once more, tearing open her bag as she dumped a few nuts into her hands. "You're all crazy." She muttered, tossing the almonds into her mouth.

A few hours later, Jack was slouched over her desk with her left hand holding her face up as the elbow rested on the desk. She had a pencil in her right hand, between her thumb and index finger, shaking it back at forth as it tapped against her math homework.

"Come on... come on." She muttered, eyes glaring up at the clock as the seconds slowly ticked by. At her feet were a stack of three textbooks, her left foot placed on top of them as she bounced her leg up and down. Her eyes began to move back and forth with each tick of the second hand, knowing the bell was going to ring in a matter of seconds.

The inner excitement started to get the best of her as the seconds went on. She bit her lip, twirling her pencil around before snatching a hold of it in a firm grip. She leaned back, letting her left arm fall to the side and slowly reach for her books. She didn't need the teachers yelling at her for packing up early. Well, not yet at least.

The second the hands of the clock hit three o'clock, Jack was on her feet with her books in her arms, pieces of paper lying flat between pages as her pencil stuck out of her pocket. She quickly walk out, pushing the door open just as a few other students started to put their backpacks on.

Speeding walking down the near empty halls as students flooded into them, she slowed down,coming to a stop in front of her locker. She shifted her books around, holding them in her left hand while pushing them up against her thigh. With her right hand, she began to put her combination. "Fifty-eight, sixty-two, twenty." She muttered to herself, hearing the locker click open.

At Arcus Academy, students are given a locker and combination their first year. They would then use this same locker for the three years they would stay at the school. And luckily for the current seventh graders, when they were in sixth grade, the eighth graders left behind the best sets of lockers for them to use.

Jack gave a sigh, placing her books inside before closing the locker with a heavy sound of metal hitting metal. She let her palm rest on the cool metal for a moment before she turned around at the sound of footsteps approaching her. She blinked, letting her hand slide down and fall to her side. "What do you three want?" She snarled, eyes narrowing at the three boys who had been picking on Lem during the start of lunch.

Akrsna scoffed, his thumb nail pressing upward on his front teeth. He flicked his nail across his canine, letting his arm fall before placing his hands in his pockets. "You think you're tough. I can see it in your eyes." He stepped closer, a devilish grin forming. "But the next time you interrupt me, my boys and I aren't going to be very nice to you." He motioned to Blac and Claec behind him, the two nodded back in agreement.

Jack simply rolled her eyes, leaning up against the lockers as she stared at the three dark haired boys. "Okay." She took a deep breath and sighed. "Listen, at the moment, I really don't feel like kicking your butts and and I am somewhat trying not to get in trouble for a friend. So how about you guys back off and we forget this ever happened. Deal?" She half smiled, tilting her head as she stood up straight and held out her hands. She then grunted, suddenly being shoved back into the lockers.

"No, you listen here." Akrsna put a hand on her chest, holding the orange haired girl back as she calmly blinked. "I and my boys do what we want around here. You got a problem with that, too bad. Suck it up or get your head pounded in. So the next time you think about interfering with blondie and me, think again." His dark eyes narrowed coldly.

She had remained unfazed, barely even batting an eye at the boy, up until he had said blondie. For those who knew Jack, they knew she could deal with a lot of any kind of harsh treatment and not even care. But the second you bring her friends into it or mention something rude about them, she would snap.

The orange haired girl reached up, grabbing a hold of his wrist extremely tight with her right hand. "Don't say crap about my friends." She muttered, glaring up at him between strands of her orange hair.

"Huh?" He raised an eyebrow at her, a rush of confusion filling his face. "Hey!" He went to jerk his arm away, only to grunt at her strong grip. "Let go, you rat!" She snapped.

"With pleasure." She pulled her left arm back, fingers curling as her hand turned into a fist.

His eyes widened as she let go of his wrist and stepped back. Though it was too late as her fist came hurtling towards him, slamming into the side of his face. She had expected him to stumble backwards and onto the ground, but there was no way she could have saw what came next.

The second her fist made contact with his face, Akrsna was flung backwards through the air, slamming into a set of lockers. After a moment, he slid down them, indentations on the metal where his body had struck.

Jack blinked once, stepping back as she lowered her fist with wide eyes. Both Blac and Claec were frozen stiff in fear, their faces pale which gave off a stark contrast between their skin and what they wore.

She gulped heavily, her hands trembling a bit as she quickly looked around. She then eyed the two standing boys before looking at the third, her eyes widening more as she felt her breathing and heartbeat become rapid. "I-I..." She stuttered, unable to find her words to speak as she quickly took off, bolting down the halls.

From the side, Professor Black was blinking rapidly as he watched the scene play out. After a moment, he shook his head as his expression went back to neutral. He turned on his heels, walking off with his hand rubbing his chin. "Interesting... very interesting."

Panting softly, Sky had her fingers held loosely as her shoulders gently moved up and down. She was currently wearing short blue shorts, a white shirt, blue and black shin guards, and a pair of cleats. She took several short steps before taking off into a sprint, her foot making contact with a black and white soccer ball before flying through the air. She watched it, groaning softly as her hands moved to her face at the sight of the ball flying over the goal.

"Gosh darn..." She trailed off, silently beating herself up on the inside. She took several deep breaths, groaning more. She looked up, seeing Jack's unmistakable orange hair run past the fenced off green field she was in. She blinked a few times, tilting her head before flinching at the sound of her coach calling out her name.

"Bird!" A slightly overweight man snapped, walking over towards her. He had short brown hair with a red baseball cap on top. He crossed his arms, the thick light blue jacket he wore making noise as he did so.

As he stopped a foot from Sky, the blue haired girl lowered her head, her ponytail falling to her side. "I'm sorry, coach..." She muttered, shaking her head some. Her left hand grabbed her right arm, rubbing it gently as she looked up. "I'm just not... my heads not completely in game mode right now." She muttered. Even though it was just practice, she still felt awful for failing.

He blinked softly, pulling out the whistle from underneath his jacket, letting it hang down. "You thinking about your father again?" He asked quietly in a caring tone.

Glancing up at him, she quickly averted her her blue eyes. Sure, why not. Her father would be a better answer than the truth. She slowly nodded, rubbing her arm more. "Yes, coach."

He gave a sigh, slowly nodding back as he crossed his arms. "Your father was an amazing warrior. You of all people should know that." He reached over, putting a hand on her shoulder. "He wouldn't want you to keep dwelling on the past. I know it's been a hard two years for you and your family, but I'm your coach and that means two things." He pulled his hand back. "One, I need to make sure all of you are ready to kick some butt. And two," He softly smiled. "I am here to make sure all of you are safe and that if there is anything you need help with, I can help. Got it, Bird?" He asked.

"I know, I know, coach." She nodded back to him, grunting a little as his large hand patted her back.

"Now get out. We have games ahead that need winning." He smiled, turning around and jogging away. "So get back to working as hard as you normally do!" He called out, blowing his whistle.

Sky took a deep breath, slowly turning around to face the goalie and the net behind her. She couldn't exactly tell her coach what was bothering her. Now that would make an awkward conversation fore sure. She scoffed a bit, shaking her head. Like he would believe in magic and the ability to control time.

She exhaled heavily, sliding her right foot back. After a moment she took off, running forward as her foot made contact with the soccer ball once again. Her jaw quickly tightened though, seeing it go too far to the left. "Darn it, Sky!" She snapped. She then blinked a few times, slowly crouching down and reaching into her shoe. She pulled out her blue time stone, clutching it tight in her grip. She lifted up her head, eyes narrowing up at the goalie. "You're doing this until you get it right." She muttered, the blue stone glowing as time reset.

On the inner streets of Fabula, four of the six girls were walking down the sidewalk. Lem had her hands gently folded together in front of her as she looked around, eyeing several different stores and shops. "Maybe we could see if Jack went to that ice cream store she likes to hang out at." She quietly asked, lifting herself up onto the tips of her toes before lowering herself down.

"I doubt it." Rosa spoke up, glancing down side roads. "It's not like her to just not show up when we are going to meet up and hang out." She bit her lip a little, an uneasy feeling washing over her as she let her arms sway side to side.

"Maybe she already got in trouble at school?" Pi raised an eyebrow, glancing at her friends with her brows furrowed and hands in her pockets. "She nearly got into it with Rose this morning."

"Heard about that." Ami muttered, her arms hanging with her sleeves hanging over her hands. "That pink haired jerk deserves to be thrown into a ditch filled with rotten food and trash." She grumbled, slowly moving her arms and crossing them.

"Can't argue with that." The redhead shook her head as she glanced around a corner. "But right now we need to figure out where Jack is. She could be in trouble with someone or something."

"Try something else..." Jack suddenly appeared, panting as she stepped up in front of the group. This made Rosa flinch, causing the redhead to stumble back a bit into Lem.

"Jack!" The blonde side stepped, moving to the front of her friend group. What happened? Where were you?" Her yellow eyes sparkled with concern.

"Hey, you should know I can handle myself." She reached over, ruffling her smaller friends hair.

"So what happened?" Ami came closer, crossing her arms. "And where's your bike..." She trailed off, raising her eyebrows.

"Left that stupid thing at school..." The orange haired girl groaned, rubbing the back of her head. "Stupid Akrsna..." She muttered, shutting her eyes as she lowered her head.

"You mean the Dark ABC boys?" Pi slid her hands from her pockets as her head perked up more. "Did they try to fight you?"

"Was it because of what happened during lunch?" Lem asked, her voice low as she reached up and rubbed her arm.

"They didn't hurt you, did they?" Rosa asked, her eyes filled with concern.

"No. No, no. I'm fine but..." The orange haired girl sighed, trailing off. "I think these stones did more than just give us magical powers over time..." She looked up slowly.

"What do you mean?" Ami asked, her brows furrowing.

"I mean that..." Jack sighed again, shaking her head. "I punched Akrsna. And well... I know I punch hard but her..." She paused for a moment. "He flew across the hall and dented a couple lockers."

The four girls stepped back simultaneously, eyes wide. Rosa gulped a little, sighing as she let her shoulders fall. "Great. We have super strength now. That's wonderful to know." She shook her head, rubbing her forehead. "Well, we got to get going. Sky is meeting us at the park in a bit after her practice."

"Right." Ami nodded, looking around. "We should get going."

A while later, Sky walked through a park with her duffle bag over her shoulder. She seemed a little more tired than usual for reasons only she knew. Her ponytail was slightly messy, strands sticking out as sweat dripped down her face still. Panting as she came up to her friends, she smiled softly and set her bag down. "Hey, guys."

Rosa, Pi. and Lem were each sitting on a bench while Ami laid outstretched on the grassy ground and Jack was sitting up in a tree. "Bad news or worse news first?" The redhead asked.

Sighing as she shook her head, Sky's smile faded as she rubbed her face. She already had enough things running rapid inside her mind. There was enough there to have her reset the flow of time eleven times before she could make a single goal. "What now?"

Lem sighed, outstretching her legs. "Jack most likely got in trouble at school." She muttered as the orange haired girl jumped down from the tree.

"It wasn't completely my fault though." She said in defense.

"And we also have super strength, so who knows what else we can do." Pi quickly added. raising her hand before lowering.

Sky blinked softly, shaking her head. "Good thing I wasn't kicking the soccer ball as hard as I could." That would have made an awful conversation for sure.

Each girl then suddenly flinched, hearing sirens sound off. Ami quickly sat up, her eyes wide as she looked towards the inner part of the city. "Again?" She mumbled before slowly standing.

Jack blinked slowly, eyeing Rosa. "We have to help." Her jaw tightened a little. "If not us then who knows who will of if warriors will be able to stop it this time."

"I know." Rosa nodded, taking her red stone from her pocket with a sigh. "Come on." She smiled, glancing back at her friends as her fingers wrapped around the stone and it began to glow. "It's time to use what Oum gave us."

Walking down the main streets of the city on its eight legs, a large and heavily armored Carkinus looked around with its glowing red eyes looking in both directions at once. It blinked, the stems that held up its eyes moving around for a better view. Its legs were completely white, covered in near unbreakable platings as was its back and head. The claws were vicious, sharp enough and strong enough to cut away the metal sides of a building. With each step, the feet clicked against the ground, leaving deep hole imprints.

While it may have been impossible to cut at from the top, the excessive armor made it much slower than other Grimm. But what it lacked in speed, it definitely made up for in sheer strength and deadly force. If one was unlucky enough to get caught in his grasp, there was no way they would see the next day, or any day to follow.

Spikes were stretched across its back, lining up with the middle as red lines stretched across the plating. Like its back, its claws were also spiked at the front, mostly used for swinging and ramming into objects or... humans.

Hiding underneath a bench on the sidewalk, a man gulped as he curled up around a small girl who was quivering and crying. "Shh... shh." He muttered, brushing her hair softly as he slowly looked back at the approaching Grimm.

"D-Daddy..." The girl whimpered, looking up before her head was quickly pushed back down.

"Don't look." He cuppeed his large hand around her head, bringing her body close enough for him to feel her heartbeat and vice versa. "Everything is going to be fine... I promise." He gulped, glancing up as his eyes widened. Standing above him, the Carkinus staired, its eyes blinking as the stems moved around. Finally it began to lift up its right claws, it opening and snapping shut with loud pinching sounds. It gave off a near silent growl, bringing its pincher down.

The quickly shut his eyes, expecting to feel a nothingness washing over him. But instead there was nothing. A long and painful silence that overcame the city before the Creature of Grimm cried out in pain and stumbled away. He looked back, blinking slowly at what he saw.

With her glowing green energy katana in her hand and Rainbow Time Dancer uniform on, Pi was crouch down in a position that showed she had just finished a slashing attack. She stood up straight, twirling the katana in her right hand before gripping it with both hands. "Get out of here." She eyed the man and his child before looking at the severed eye from the Grimm evaporate into a black smoke.

He quickly nodded, sliding out from underneath the bench with his child in his arms as he took off running down the street. The green haired girl gave a sigh, looking back up at the Carkinus which stood three times her height. She winced a little, seeing the beast growl at her as smoke escaped from where its eye once was. "Guuuys!" She shouted, stepping back.

"Got ya!" Lem called out, narrowing her eyes as she lifted up hey yellow energy bow. She let out an easy breath of air, pulling back on the string. She quickly released it, striking a joint which had less armor for movement.

It hissed, quickly turning around with claws snapping shut. As it charged towards Lem, Rosa jumped down, grunting softly as her feet struck the ground. She twirled her broadsword, bringing it around to slash at the Carkinus' leg but instead was met by its pinchers being swung around and striking her. She was tossed back into a building, the structure crumbling and cracking on top of her.

"Rosa!" Jack called out, growling as she jumped into the air with her double bladed axe. She brought it down, hitting the armored back of the beast. Like the redhead, she too was thrown off, her eyes wide as she tumbled down the road with her energy weapon breaking up the road.

"Hey!" Sky teased, sending blast from her staff by swinging it towards the creature. Each blue ball exploding on contact. The action only seemed to irritate it as she clenched her teeth. "Back off of them!" She snapped, jumping away.

Groaning as she pulled herself from debris and rubble, Rosa groan before feeling a hand grip her bicep and pull her up.

"Come on." Ami muttered, both girls clearly struggling to get the redhead free.

"Th-Thanks..." Rosa panted, resting her hands on her knees as she was finally able to stand up. She looked up, blinking slowly at the battle going on in front of her. Despite how desperately hard her friends hit the Carkinus, their actions only seemed to anger the Grimm more and more.

"This isn't working." She muttered, picking up her energy while keeping her eyes up.

"Maybe we... should just hit it harder?" The violet haired girl asked, eyebrows raised. "Would that work?"

"I don't think so." The redhead shook her head, taking a deep breath. "What is that? A crab Grimm? That's a Carkinus then... they're extremely strong and durable but also really slow. And while the plating is on the top of it, it's not on the under part. Which means if we strike it hard enough there or get it on its back..." She trtailed off, smiling faintly. "I have a plan."

Ami smirked, shaking her head as she grunted and lifted her mace over her shoulder. "You always do, smartie pants."

"I'm taking that as a compliment since we're in a death battle." She smiled back with a nod before running ahead.

"This is pointless!" Jack shouted, bringing her axe down with a heavy grunt on the beast's head. Like all the times before, it stumbled back with a low growl before lifting its head back up and charging. The orange haired girl gave off an aggravated scream, swinging her battle axe around. "I am so tired of you!" She snapped.

"Same here!" Sky snapped in anger, twirling around her staff as she sent blast after blast at the Grimm. "I don't understand how I am supposed to destroy this thing!"

"I do!" Rosa shouted, skidding to a stop next to her friends as Ami caught up. She quickly looked around, taking several deep breaths. "Jack!" She looked at the orange haired girl. "Get its attention and get it running after you!"

"Bait, got it." She chuckled, saluting her friend with a wink.

"Pi." The redhead quickly looked over at said girl. "Speed the thing up in time. Make sure it is going fast. And then Lem," She looked over at the blonde. "Slow it down enough to make it lose its balance then set it free."

Both girls quickly nodded back before looking at each other with a smile.

"Ami." Their obvious leader looked back at the violet haired girl. "Strike the ground in front of it with your mace and send it flying into the air."

"Understood." She flashed a wicked smile, bringing her large weapon around.

"And Sky." Rosa looked back at her with a nod. "You know what to do if anything goes wrong.

"Reset everything. Got it." She held up a thumb.

"Alright then." The redhead took a deep breath, nodding. "Let's go! Scatter!" She shouted, jumping away as did everyone else.

"Come on! I've eaten your children for dinner probably!" Jack called out, striking the beast in the leg before she took off down the street, barely missing being struck by its spiked pincher. She took a deep breath, letting her weapon vanish as she ran as hard as she could. She glanced back, seeing the beast speed up. She gulped heavily, her heart skipping a beat before it slowed immensely. She skidded to a stop, panting as it stumbled in normal speed. She gave a soft sigh of relief, seeing Ami dropping down from the sky.

"Here I come!" The violet haired girl chuckled, her mace slamming into the ground and cracking it just in front of the beast as it was flung into the air and over the two girls' heads. It landed on its back, all of its eight legs and claws flailing as it began growling.

Rosa grunted, landing on its unprotected underbody with her sword in an reverse grip held in both hands. She gave off a war cry, stabbing the Carkinus as it screeched, its body tensing before it went limp and started evaporating.

The redhead smiled, pulling her blade free with a jerk. Before she could step down though, a figure shrouded in black jumped down on top of the disappearing Grimm. "Who are-" AShe started before being cut off. Her eyes widened as the man held up his right hand, a black blast sending her flying back and striking the ground with a grunt.

"Hey! What's your deal?!" Jack shouted, jumping up with her axe raised. He glanced back, raising an eyebrow underneath his hood. He quickly brought his foot up, sending it into stomach as her body bent around his leg.

She spat out, falling to the ground with heavy coughing and groaning. Lem quickly slid to her side, placing a hand on her back while wide eyes looked up at the man. He glared back, eyes locking at the orange hair before he turned away.

"Anyone else care to try?" He spoke, his voice low and menacing. "If not, I'd like to speak." When he heard nothing but silence from the six girls, he faintly smiled with his white teeth contrasting against his black clothes.

"My name is Doctor Darkness, for as much as you should be concerned. And I will ask this only once." He looked around at each girl. "The six of you have six little stones that I want. And I hope you give it to me."

"And if we don't?" Sky quietly asked, stepping back a little.

He quickly whipped his head over in her direction, black eyes piercing into her very soul. "Then I hope the six of you are willing to fight a war you won't win. Because those before you who had those time stones fell at my hands. And I am not afraid to kill worthless little brats." He spat the last words out, his body radiating in pure evil.

Pi gulped heavily, her hands holding onto her katana as tight as she could. "Well, then I hope you're ready to get your butt kicked by us." She smirked. Her eyes then quickly widened, seeing the dark colored man appear in front of her. Her eyes widened as she took a step back, dropping her weapon.

"That's what I thought." He muttered, glancing around at the group. "Next time I will not be ass nice." He smirked, jumping away and vanishing into the shadows of the city.

"Great, new bad guy that isn't Grimm." Rosa muttered, slowly standing back up.

"That guy really packs a punch..." Jack shook her head, groaning as she stood up with Lem's help. "Like for real." She grumbled, rubbing her head.

"At least we won-" Sky started before she was cut off, a group of people walking up to the group.

"Look what you've done!" A woman snapped, pointing at a building who had been destroyed. "That was my grandfather's shop years ago and you just destroyed it!"

Rosa glanced back at it, taking a deep breath as she let her weapon vanish. "We didn't mean to do that ma'am. We were trying to get rid of the Carkinus and-"

"And what?" She snapped, crossing her arms. "You didn't think about what would happen if you messed up and concern yourself with the surroundings."

"No, no." She shook her head, holding up her hands. "That's not it. We were trying to protect all of-" She was cut off again, grimacing as she looked over at a man.

"Protect us from what?!" A man shouted, pointing at the now ruined road. "Do you know how much lien the city will take from us in taxes in order to repair this?!"

"Yeah!" Another woman spoke up, stepping forward. "We have warriors to protect us from Grimm! But who is going to protect us from weirdos like you!"

The words echoed in the redheads mind as an uproar of complaints began to rise up in the crowed. Pi reached out, grabbing Rosa's hand. "Come on. We need to go before things get too crazy." She muttered, sighing softly as she and her friends ran off, leaving the crowd and decaying Grimm behind.

Inside The Tree House, each girl sighed softly as they sat in silence, wearing their normal clothing. "Guess superheroing is a lot harder than we thought..." Sky muttered, keeping her head low as she leaned up against one of the walls, all windows shut and securely closed.

"I told you guys that there were people who wouldn't like us..." Rosa muttered, holding her head up with her right hand.

Lem gave a sigh, shaking her head some as she leaned onto Jack for comfort. "I guess we did destroy a lot while fighting that thing..."

"Guess we still have a lot to learn about being heroes, huh...?" Ami muttered. "Guess it's not all about powers and fighting Grimm..."

"Plus now we have to deal with that guy... Doctor Darkness, he called himself..." Pi muttered, looking up. "Who was that, anyway?"

"Whoever he is..." Jack took a deep breath. "We can't let him get these time stones. If he does... and if he is behind those Grimm attacks... who knows what he would do with them. All that power." She gulped.

"We have a long way to go..." Rosa shook her head softly, resting her head in her hands. "A really long way to go and a whole lot more to learn about being super heroes."

The following day at school, Jack heavily gulped as she stood outside the new headmaster's office. Apparently, someone had told him about what had happened between her and Akrsna. And she was fairly nervous. What was she even suppose to tell this man? That she and her friends found magical stones so know she has the strength of a warrior and also the massive protection aura which they had. She'd be expelled for being completely crazy!

She flinch, her mind being jerked out of its train of thought as the door to the headmaster's room unlocked with a sharp click, the door swinging open.

"Miss Lantern." Professor Black stood, arms at his sides as he stared emotionless at the young girl before him.

"Yes, sir?" She muttered, keeping her head low.

He blinked a bit before stepping aside, motioning for her to enter. "Come on in."

"Yes, sir..." Her voice lowered more, gulping as she slowly stepped inside the room.

"Take a seat." His voice was filled with authority, taking his chair behind his desk. He watched, seeing the young girl in orange colors sit down slowly. "Do you know why you're here?" He asked.

"Yes, sir..." She muttered quietly, keeping her head down. "I... punched a boy." She gulped.

Professor Black slowly nodded, leaning forward across his desk, his hands clasped together as his eyes gently narrowed. "From what I heard, you punched him across the hall into a set of lockers. And you... dented the lockers when his body struck them?" His brows raised.

"I-I well..." She trailed off, taking a deep breath as she shut her eyes.

"Well," He leaned back, folding his hands. "I highly doubt that a young thirteen year old girl, despite how healthy she is, could manage to punch a boy into a row of lockers and dent them. So..." He let his arms fall, smiling a bit. "So I don't think you could have done such. Which means I can't exactly punish you for something you haven't done. So I guess I'll just let you off with a warning." He smiled.

At this, Jack lifted her head up and blinked a few times. "You're letting me off the hook?" She started to smile, her face perking up.

"Yes." He nodded, leaning forward across his desk. "Just make sure the next time you don't get caught the next time you punch someone into a set of lockers." He winked.

"Thank you so much!" She jumped to her feet, bowing with her hands held tightly together. "I can promise I'm not a trouble maker! I just..." She chuckled, rubbing the back of her head. "I have some anger issues when people make fun of my friends."

"I don't question that." He shook his head. "I am sure you are a wonderful and amazing person. Just be careful next time, alright?"

"Of course, sir." She nodded once more before quickly walking towards the door. "Thank you." She smiled, stepping out.

"Trust me, the pleasure is all mine." He smiled back, leaning up against the back of his chair with his arms crossed over his chest.

That day during lunch, the group of six girls were all sitting in their usual dead end hallway. Pi in the left corner, Jack in the right, and Ami in between with Rosa across from the green haired girl, Sky across from the girl in violet, and Lem sitting across from her orange haired friend. The were quiet for a bit, all of them still struggling with the transaction of becoming super heroes. Though, they were shifting over slowly.

Rosa glanced up at her friends, smiling a bit. "So, how are all you guys doing?"

"Wishing we knew how to use these powers better." Jack muttered.

Lem nodded, shaking her head. "So they won't be as mad next time. The people of Fabula, I mean."

"I guess we just keep trying harder?" Pi looked up slowly, taking a deep breath.

Sky gave a nod, taking a bite of an apple. "That's what coach does. If we fail he just has us try again."

"Guess that's what we will be doing then, huh?" Ami asked, letting her shoulders relax with a sigh.

Rosa took a deep breath, slowly nodding. "Suppose so. Things can't stay bad forever." Her head then perked up, blinking as she looked down the hall. In the distance, she and her friends could hear the sound of the Grimm sirens sounding.

Pi blinked, smiling a little as she looked at her friends with a challenging smile. "Think we could make it back before lunch ends?"

Jack grinned back, softly chuckling. "Might as well start getting better now." She shook her head, standing up.

Sky rolled her eyes, standing up along with her other friends. "All in?"

"Let's do this." Ami smiled, stretching her neck.

"Agreed." Lem smiled.

As the group ran down the halls, Professor Black blinked, leaning up against a wall as he rubbed his chin, watching the group of girls sneak out. "I'm not for sure, but it's a pretty accurate assumption. But nothing works unless I am for certain." He sighed, shaking his head as he turned around and started to walk back to his office. "I'll learn. One way or another I will learn." His black eyes narrowed, his heels clicking against the tile floor.


	3. Younglings

"In _marketing, yellow is used in younger aged toys due to man's assumptions of its childish nature, yet it is still a symbol of warmth, loyalty, and hope to those who truly get to know it." - Roy G. Biv_

On the outskirts of town, where houses were farther spaced out yet citizens could still see and talk to neighbor's from their front porch, Ami brought her large mace made of violet energy down with a war cry. The weapon came crashing down on top of a small Death Stalker, sending the Grimm into the ground with a heavy impact.

Dressed in her colored sailor outfit, the young girl breathed in and out softly as she heaved her weapon over her shoulder as the creature of darkness disappeared into a cloud of black smoke. Hearing clattering coming from behind her, she quickly spun around, sending her mace into the body of another Death Stalker with a powerful cry. Like the other, this monster began to slowly fade away, leaving behind a small hole made from the blow.

Ami let out a heavy huff of air, her shoulders drooping downward as she leaned her head back with a sigh. "Why is this superhero thing so tiring...!" She quietly complained to herself before taking a deep breath as she pulled her weapon up again.

"Hey! You're getting better at keeping up!" Sky shouted, zig zagging between the tiny Grimm with her staff, leaving a faint blue trail behind her weapon. She soon stopped, turning around to see each Death Stalker collapse with a burst of blue energy before disintegrating into nothingness. She twirled her weapon, stabbing it into the ground while leaning on it. "You're actually getting a lot better." She smiled, breathing softly as she flipped her hair back.

"Yay for improvement." The violet haired girl sighed, looking around before letting her weapon vanish. She then turned to a family hiding inside their home while peering out the window. "Everything should be fine now!" She waved her hand with a smile. "Sorry I kinda broke the ground a little bit!"

"Or a lot." The bluette muttered, sliding next to her with her brows furrowed and hand on her chin. "How did you manage to damage this much of the ground?"

"Because my weapon was designed for heavy impacts so I don't have to hit them as much!" She roared, her teeth pointed triangles as she glared at her.

Sky chuckled softly, patting her friend's shoulder. "Sure, sure. Keep telling yourself that."

Ami growled softly before giving a sigh as she crossed her arms. "Whatever." She pouted, looking away for a moment before glancing back. "Do you really think I've gotten better?" She quietly asked, her voice hushed.

"For sure." The blue girl nodded back with a confident smile. "And it's not just you. We are all improving. We're all learning to fight better, and gaining stamina too. Plus," She smiled more, twirling her staff around. "We're learning to control these things better."

"I guess that's true." The violet haired girl nodded slowly, looking at the family that slowly began to come out of their home with a smile. "And the people are liking us a lot more too."

"Definitely." Sky smiled, closing her eyes.

The bluette flashed a smile, opening her eyes as she jumped upward. Now in the main part of the city a few days later, she came down on top of a Creep, the bladed end of her weapon easily piercing its body. "It's actually really nice having most of the people support us now." She twirled around, sending a blue ball into another monster.

"Agreed." Pi said back, narrowing her eyes as she lashed out between several Grimm, jumping back and forth from each with massive speed. She caught herself, lowering her katana to her side. " In the newspapers my parents get, there is always an article about the Rainbow Time Dancers. I love reading them." She smiled, twirling her green blade into a reverse grip as she slashed upward on a Creep's torso.

"Man, I wish I lived in town so I could get the paper!" Sky complained as she brought her staff around, stabbing a Grimm in the side of the head. The impact shattering and cracking the bone mask on its face.

"Well when okasan is done, I'm sure I could get her to give you it. Or even better!" She stabbed another Creep in the chest, letting it collapse. She glanced around, seeing no more of the vicious creatures. With her blade lowered at her side, she turned to look at her friend who let her blue weapon vanish. "I've been cutting out all the articles about us. We could hang them up in the Tree House and hope Indy doesn't sneak in?"

"Probably wouldn't be able to piece two and two together anyways." She shrugged.

"Guess that's a go ahead yes then." The girl in green smiled with a nod. "I'll bring them over in a book sometime. We could pin them to the wall like all our maps." Her smile merely grew.

"So?" In a heavily wooded area with a group of warriors some time later, Pi tilted her head towards a certain blonde as she jumped up into the trees to miss an attack by a Beowolf. "What do you think? Cool idea or no?" She asked.

"Oh yeah!" Lem grinned, pulling back and notching five arrows on her bow. "We could try to get them laminated too! That way they last forever!" She smiled more, her eyes narrowing at five Grimm charging at her.

"There is... no possible way a twelve year old girl can make that shot." A large man with bulging muscles and a thick brown beard said, holding a crossbow in his arms. "It's impossible." He looked up at Pi in the trees, his metal of his armor clinking together as his giant form shifted.

"She's not twelve." She glanced down, smiling at him as she stood up on the branch she was crouched down on. "She's thirteen." She corrected, pushing her green hair behind her ear. "She'll get upset if you think she's younger." She eyed her friend, faintly chuckling. "And you wouldn't like her when she's angry."

"Huh?" The warrior let out, tilting his head towards the blonde with raise eyebrows. He then took a step back, his eyes widening at the young girl.

Lem took a deep breath, slowing down her own flow of time despite the fast approaching threat. As her heart beat slowed, she narrowed her eyes as her fingers began the flex, the muscles preparing to fire as she watched her aim.

And then she let go.

Her body didn't even flinch as she released the arrows, sending them flying forwards as the normal flow of time resumed for her body. She lowered both her arms, her bow tightly held in her left hand as one by one, she watched each arrow strike directly in the middle of each of the five Beowolves foreheads. Even cracking through the gnarled armor.

"I..." The large warrior blinked, staring at the bright and bubbly girl her bounced away from the decaying Grimm. "Well I give up." He tossed his hands up, the metal plates shielding his body clanking together as he shook his head.

"Nice job." Pi smiled, jumping down from the trees. She let her sword go mid fall, letting the green energy disappear into thin air as she landed on her feet with a soft grunt, her sailor uniform swaying in the wind. "I don't think I know anyone who can shoot a bow like you. You're aim is amazing and impeccable."

Lem gave off a small giggle, her shoulders rise as she shut her eyes. "I think it comes with the stones. I could never learn to do anything like this on my own."

"Okay, so the stones may have given us super powers that let us control time, super strength, agility, endurance, ability to summon weapons, and all that lame stuff," She started waving her hands for emphases. "But it's still you that's taking aim and firing."

"Yeah, yeah. You're just being modest." She rolled her eyes before leaning over on one foot, peering behind her friend. "Thanks for letting us help you mister!" She gave a small wave with her right hand.

"Trust me," He waved his hand back, scanning the area for any more Grimm trying to fight there way into the city. "The pleasure is definitely all mine! At first I thought you six were nothing but nuisances but now I see y'all really want to do some good and you're learning pretty quick how things work out here."

"See! I knew they would come around and love us eventually!" Lem smiled brightly with a small jump, her hair swaying in the breeze. "Well..." She reached up, poking her chin. "At least most of the people still like us." She sighed, lowering her head.

In the suburbs, after a few more days had past, the blonde lifted up her head as she threw her arms out. "I mean, they can't hate us forever, riiiiiiiiiight?" Her voice drew high pitched as she outstretched the word. "We ARE superheroes!"

Sighing softly, Jack shook her head while letting strands of her orange hair fall across her eyes. "Lem." She placed her double bladed axe over her left shoulder, glancing back at the blonde. "SOME people are just naturally mean. And jerks. And rude." She inhaled sharply, looking forward again as she began to swing her axe around to build up momentum towards the Ursa Major approaching from down the street. "And you can't do anything about it no matter how freaking hard you try!" She shouted, darting towards the beast as she raised her weapon above her head along with a small jump. She gave off a war cry, bringing one of the blades down and cracking the white plating that shielding the beast before jumping back.

"Um..." Lem blinked, raising a finger in confusion and concern as she tilted her head. "You're not just talking about the citizens of Fabula... are you?" She tilted her head the other way. "It sounds like you're talking about Rose...?" It was more of a question than a statement.

"That's not the point!" The orange haired girl shouted back, chopping at the Grimm's ankles as it howld and roared in pain. "The point is sometimes you can't make everyone happy!" She jumped back, dodging a deadly swipe from a pair of claws. "The important thing to do is keep the people who already like us happy!" She ducked down, a few strands of her hair being cut of by the Grimm's slash. "The eyes!" She shouted, jumping away.

Lem yelped, quickly nodding as she raised her bow. "Right! Sorry!" She pulled back on the string, two yellow arrows forming. She licked her lips, narrowing her eyes at the beast as it began to slow down. After a moment, she smiled. "Got ya." She released the arros, the two shooting through the air like bullets and striking and piercing both of the deadly glowing red eyes.

The Ursa roared thrashing its head in pain as its paws raised up to rub its face. "Sorry loser!" Jack shouted, sprinting in with the edge of her orange axe blade dragging across the ground. "This is your loss!" She jumped up, slashing at its neck.

In the heart of the city, some time afterwards, the orange haired girl landed on her knees with a soft grunt. She glanced behind her, holding her weapon over both her shoulders as she watched the severed head of a Griffon smash into the ground followed by its body, the corpse quickly decaying into a mist of black smoke. "How many more?" She looked up at the rooftops.

"Just two!" Rosa shouted down, jumping off the side of the building as she held her broadsword in a reverse grip. In mid air, she slashed upward at one of the flying Grimm, listening to its agonized cries as she quickly change back to a hammer grip. She grabbed the handle with both hands, stabbing the beast through the back as she and it crashed into the ground, this time without wrecking the street. As she rose to her feet, she drew her sword from the disappearing monster. "Well, now one."

Jack rolled her eyes, standing up as she looked around. So where's the la-" She stopped herself, flinching at the sounds of terrified screaming. Both of them quickly looked over, seeing the last Griffon circle around before diving straight towards a family of three.

"No, no, no, no." The redhead quietly muttered before she started sprinting towards them. She took a deep breath, closing her eyes for a moment before letting them snap open. Red energy burst from her eyes as the world went completely still. "Hold it... hold it." She muttered, running as hard as she could.

Skidding to a stop in front of the frozen family, she let out a very heavy huff of air while raising her red broadsword up. "Bring it!" She shouted as the normal flow of time resumed. As the Grimm cried out while flapping its wings, Rosa raised her hands, giving off a battle cry of her own. She slashed downward, shutting her eyes as the energy blade made contact with the creature.

It split in two, black smoke escaping both pieces which landed on either side of the family. She softly sighed, turning around with her weapon resting on her shoulder. "Are all of you okay?" She asked in a kind and caring tone.

"Yes, yes, thank you." The woman with luxurious purple hair panted, holding her son tight as her husband held her. "Thank you so much."

"It's nothing." Rosa gave a soft nod, still smiling. She then blinked, seeing the look on the small boy's face light up as his grey hair blew over his eyes. "Um, yes?" She raised an eyebrow.

"You're actually one of them..." His voice was hushed yet still high pitched, most likely due to his age. "You're a Rainbow Time Dancer."

"Uh yeah, I am." She shifted her weight, still holding her broadsword over her shoulder as she pushed her hair behind her ear. "I'm guessing you're-"

"No! Not you, stupid!" He waved his hands before pointing over at Jack who started walking over, letting her axe disappearing into the air. "Heeeeer!" He shouted.

"What." The oranged haired girl deadpanned for a moment before raising her eyebrows. "What." She repeated.

"You're the super cool one!" He jumped up and down. "My friends and I talk about how you're the best! You never think twice about jumping in head first! And you're weapon is so awesome!"

Jack blinked slowly, looking up at her friend who stared back with the ame look. That was, until the orange haired girl burst into laughter. "This is golden!" She put her hands over her stomach. "I'm more popular and liked more than you for once! This is priceless!"

Glaring back at her friend for a moment, Rosa finally sighed with the soft shake of her head and a small smile. "You know, I'm the leader here. I'm suppose to be the favorite." She smiled a bit more, looking up at the sky. "But whatever." Her shoulders relaxed as her red broadsword started to fade away. She eyed the broken moon, her hair blowing against the wind as she shut her eyes.

Early in the morning, months after the discovering of the six magical stones and the power that follows, Pi was sound asleep in her bed. She was curled up underneath a thick wool blanket as her chest softly rose and fell every few seconds. Her hair was stretched out across her pillow, several strands dangling across her face. It was early in the morning, way earlier than she would normally wake up.

Her body was quickly jerked out of its slumber though, eyes snapping wide open as she heard a brutal and gruesome cough erupt in the calm and quiet hours of the morning air.

"Otosan..." The green haired girl blinked once, the coughing escalating before she quickly threw her covers off her. Her bare feet hit the wooden floor boards with a thud before she rushed out of her room and quickly headed to her parents.

"Otosan! Okasan!" She shouted, sliding the door to we parents room open. Even though she was in nothing more than a green sports bra and a pair of pants, she didn't even care as she saw her father hunched forward. His hands were gripping his blanket tight.

He was a fairly old man. All the hairs on his body had faded away from their once bright and colorful glow and now were nothing more than an old aged white. Most of the hair on his had had fallen out, mainly on the top, while at the sides there were much thicker patches. But what he lacked in head hair was made up with Dacia hair. He had a long white beard that looked like wisps of either clouds of cotton candy. His skin was wrinkled an tanned, eyes barely even visible when he would open them.

He gave off a heavy groan, his back arching forward even more as he began to cough once again. Like his wife, he too was in a thick black robe that kept him warm.

Said woman slowly sat up herself, her frail hands slowly reaching up. She placed one on his back, the other on his hands. "Breathe... breathe honey." She whispered, her voice coming off low.

Pi stood still, frozen in a mix of fright and also not knowing what to do. She gulped, slowly approaching with shaky hands. "O-Otosan...?" Her own voice came off even more hushed than her mother's.

"It's fine, Pi... it's fine..." The old man coughed more, bringing up his right hand over his mouth as he shut his eyes with a deep groan. His hand then trailed to his chest as he gripped his robe tight.

"Honey." His wife said with alarmed eyes, grabbing his back as she pulled her hand away from his.

"It's alright..." He finally said after a few seconds of an eerie and painful silence. He took several deep breaths, his coughing fading away. "I'm better now..."

Letting out a heavy release of air in a moment of relief, she glance over at her daughter while pulling her arms away. "Help Otosan lay down, will you?"

"O-Of course." The young girl quickly nodded, stepping up towards her father. The look in her eyes clearly showed she was shaken as her hands softly trembled. She placed her left hand on his back as her right cupped his shoulder. "Easy now." She nearly whispered those words as she stared with a regretful gaze, avoiding eye contact with anyone in the room as she slowly leans her father back and gently laid him down. "Easy."

Shaken from the events of her morning, Pi couldn't will herself back to sleep. Instead she decided to get ready for her morning. Snatching her green hoodie from the back of a chair in the kitchen, she slowly pulled it on with a heavy sigh. She flipped her green hair out from it, glancing around the kitchen for something to cook for her parents.

She couldn't count the number of times this had happened before, but this time it was different. This time, she wasn't just some regular old girl. This time, she was a hero. She had superpowers and super strength. She had saved countless lives, saving people every single day. Yet, she still couldn't do anything to save her parents...

And that was the sole reason she couldn't go back to sleep. She was suppose to be a protector now. She was suppose to be helping people. And if she fell asleep and one of her parents were to pass on, what kind of hero would that make her.

The young girl in green was jerked out of her thoughts suddenly, hearing a soft and gentle voice call out her name. She hadn't even realized she had been staring at the ground with tight fist. She slowly exhaled, letting her shoulders and arms relax as she turned around to see her mother standing with her arms around herself in her black robe and slippers. "Okasan..."

Taking small and shaky steps towards her daughter, the elderly woman let her arms fall to her sides. Even though she was up in her age, she was still much taller than her daughter. "Are you okay?" She quietly asked, the words rolling off her tongue like a river that just broke through a dam and opened up the flood gates.

Pi felt her eyes begin to sting a bit as she bit her lip, quickly lowering her head. "Y-Yeah..." She muttered, sniffing a bit as she reached up and rubbed her nose.

Her mother gave a soft sigh, grimacing a bit as she slowly knelt down to be eye level with her.

"O-Okasan!" She was quickly alarmed by this, holding out her hands to hold her mother up. "You know you shouldn't do this! You can't even get back-"

"Hush." She said sharply, making her daughter flinch slightly and go silent. She raised her hands, brushing aside the green hair before putting hands on her shoulders. "Something is wrong... I what to know what." Her voice came off smooth and soft. "I know it's hard living with parents this old. Is that the problem?" Her voice started to grow more hushed. "Are you embarrassed by the fact we're so old and you have to take care of us?" Her brows furrowed.

"No, No!" Pi quickly shook her head, slowly reaching up and gently holding on to her mother's arms. "I love you. I couldn't care less what age you are. It's just..." She swallowed thickly. "You... you wouldn't understand. And you would worry. I'm not doing anything illegal though!" She defended herself before sighing and looking down. "It's just... you wouldn't believe me..."

"Try me." She calmly responded.

She shook her head no, slowly leaning onto her elder as she wrapped her arms around her. "I don't want to..." She muttered, holding on tight as she shut her eyes.

"Well, if you ever do." Her mother let out a sigh, nodding softly as she shut her own eyes and wrapped her arms around her. "I'll be right here for you. I promise."

Walking to school with her hair nice and neat as always, Rosa kept a tight grip in her school bag in her left hand and her metal lunchbox in her right. Each step she took was the same distance as the last, continuing at a rhythmic pace down the sidewalk. Her clothes were completly wrinkled free, even her shoe laces were tied together symmetrically.

In the bright morning sun as she walk on, she spotted a figure outlined in green up a head of her and smiled. "Hey, Pi!" She called out.

In front, the young green haired girl glanced back and blinked a few times. The tired and hurt expression faded from her face as she started to smile. "Hey." She raised a hand, holding up a peace sign as her other hand held onto her backpack strap that was over her shoulder.

Furrowing her brows, the redhead quickly walked up beside her with her head cocked. "Are you alright?" She asked.

"Ugggh! Is everyone going to ask that today!" She tossed her arms up.

Slightly taken aback, she paused for a moment only to tilt her head the other way. "You have a very exhausted look in your eyes. That's it." She replied with a satisfied smile. "Normally you don't have that look."

She gave a sigh, pushing her green hair behind her ear. "It's nothing really. Just that..." She glanced down at her hands. "I have such an incredible power now. But I still can't help my parents from getting worse." She sighed again, sticking her hands in her pockets.

"Oh." Rosa blinked once, glancing down before looking a head. "Well, it's not exactly the same, but my parents both work in the emergency room. Their sole job is to save people's lives. But sometimes they can't. It doesn't make them any worse doctors than they are, it's just the situation they were in didn't fall in their favor." She glanced over at her friend. "Did that make any sense at all?"

"In a way, yeah." Pi sighed, shaking her head. "It's just, I'm their daughter, and I can't even help them when they need it the most. No matter how much I try to, it's never enough. And at some point they'll just-" She stopped herself, gritting her teeth as her head lowered. "They'll be gone... and sometimes, I'm so afraid to fall asleep because I'm afraid something might happen and they'll need me but I might not even hear them..." She trailed off, lowering her head between her shoulders as she shut her eyes.

"I know." She sighed, pulling her right arm around her friend to bring her in close. "I know. And it never gets easier either. You, we just need to learn to live with these things and not let them bring us down. We have to use them to push ourselves forward, not knock us back." She softly smiled, looking over to face her. "Plus, when parent can't help, that's what friends are for." She nudged her friend, chuckling softly. "We'll always be there for each other. Even if one of us don't want the others to be. Because that's what friends do." She nodded confidently. "We stick together."

In another part of the city, Lem was skipping down the street with her arms swaying and hair bouncing. "It's a wonderful day in the neighborhood, the neighborhood, the neighborhood! Oh it's a wonderful day in the neighborhooooood, and I don't know how the rest of this goes!" She hummed to herself while passing through the gates of the school yard.

She always had a bright smile on her face, though today it was much brighter than usual. She was practically beaming with joy as she danced and twirled around. Her eyes were glowing and shining like two golden suns. The happiness in them indescribable.

The young a pure blonde bounced to the set of stairs where her friends were sitting. The weather was beginning to cool down and wasn't nearly as hot anymore, allowing the group to sit outside comfortably. "Guess what today is!" She squealed, waving her hands around. "Guess guys! Guess!"

"A boy finally asked you out and you weren't complete idiot and it worked out well?" Jack grinned, leaning forward. With her right elbow resting on her thigh, she held up her chin with her hand. She chuckled softly, shutting both her eyes.

"What... no." Lem blinked a couple times, shaking her head no. "What even?" She was filled with a befuddled confusement as she glanced between her friends.

Smiling, Sky held up her hands and pointed a pair of finger guns at her. "Finally decided to come around a play a sport. I'm telling you, you would be amazing at playing volleyball." The same image quickly filled each of their minds. Each seeing their lovable and childish friend running from the ball with a scream.

"Nooo!" She gave off a small whine, flailing her arms. "Y'all are picking on me nooow!" Her voice started to raise in pitch.

"Yeah, guys. Come on." Ami stood up, draping her arm over the blonde's shoulders as she took her other hand and gently patted her chest. "Be nice to Lem."

"Thank you." She pouted, crossing her arms as she held her head up. Though that feeling didn't stay for too long as the violet haired girl continued.

"Besides, it's not everyday one of your best friends win the lottery." She smiled, looking over at her. "Remember, I was always the nice one to you."

"I hate all of you." She grumbled, lowering her head as Ami sat back down

"Alright. Alright, guys." Rosa waved her hands, calming down all her friends. "Let her speak." She looked up at the blonde with a smile. "What's up, Lem?"

At that, the young girl then smiled, jumping up and down with her hands held together. "It's my Gotcha Day!" She bounced and twirled around with a huge smile. Joy and happiness once again spreading across her face and radiating from her.

"Oh yeah, I remember that." Pi blinked, pressing a finger up against her chin as she looked up. "It's the day you were adopted, right?" She looked over at her friend with a raised eyebrow.

"Mhmm!" Lem nodded in agreement as she held her hands up and twirled. "Twelve years ago mommy and daddy adopted me! And I've been a part of their family ever since!" She wiggled around. "It's like a double birthday for me!"

"More like the day your real parents decided to give you up." A wicked and cruel voice shot through the air, making each of the girls' smile fade away into frowns as they all looked down.

"Rose..." Rosa quietly grumbled, her shoulders rising as her head lowered. Tension quickly began to feel the air, a stillness overcoming everyone in the area as a hushed wind blew in, sending a few leaves flying in their direction and swirling around.

"I'm just saying." The rich pink haired brat smirked, looking at her perfectly painted nails. "Might as well not lie to her. She needs to learn the cold hard reality that is the truth. Her parents simply did not care for her enough and decided to give her away whatever years ago today."

"How about you shut up." Jack snarled as she rose to her feet, her hands balled up into tight fist as Lem gave off a small whine. Rosa quickly stood up with her, grabbing her forearm and holding the orange haired girl back from charging forward and attacking.

"How about you get a life." She spat back, pulling the sleeves down on her extremely expensive looking, light pink top before moving her hands behind her back. She stood up on the tips of her toes, leaning forward some. "Do you honestly think you can protect that blonde dunce forever?"

"We're friends," Pi rose to her feet with crossed arms and furrowed brows as the blonde sunk her head between her shoulders in an attempt to hide herself. "Being there for each other is what we do." She eyed the redhead, smiling faintly before glaring back up at the pinkette.

"Please, these childish bonds you call friendships aren't very useful unless you get something out of them." She went and crossed her arms, scoffing as she moved her head to the side a few inches. "That's what father and mother taught me and all my friends have a lot they can give me. It's how a business works and how life works."

"Don't you ever just shut up?" Ami said coldly, putting her hands on her hips. "Literally none of us care about a single thing that you are saying. It's nothing but worthless gibberish in the background to ruin our day."

"I don't have to ruin your day." Rose smiled like the devil, looking at the young blonde girl. "It was ruined the day you idiots decided to befriend such an incompetent and stupid waste of space." Her words were like spears, striking down each and everyone one of them.

"No wonder you have to pay people to hang out with you and be your friend." Sky glared, her eyes narrowing. "You're such a brat and a rotten apple that I'm sure the Grimm wouldn't even eat you."

Lem kept her head low throughout the argument, her eyes clenched shut extremely tight as her hands tightened into small fist. Deep down, she couldn't help but feel that Rose was partially right. She never knew her real parents, never knew her real family, and that ate away at her very soul every single day. That feeling of not knowing if they were dead or alive. That cold and empty hole that couldn't be filled by everyone else that was left behind from her real family. That devastatingly heartbreaking and soul crushing feeling of not being wanted by the people who gave life to you. It was awful, and no matter how hard she tried it would never go away. It would simply stay there, festering, breaking away at her spirit.

And it was always her, not her friends that needed saving from school bullies. Rosa was too rich and popular to be picked on. Jack was too vicious and bold to back down from mistreatment and no one wanted to get punched in the face by her. Pi was too calm and layed back to be bothered. Besides, no one other than Rose and her entourage were going to make fun of someone with very ill parents. Then there was Sky, the girl who was literally too cool to even attempt to find something or make something up about. Ami was a level where no one wanted to even bother with her. The fun they would have picking on her wouldn't be worth it.

But Lem though, Lem was the perfect victim. She was quiet, too quiet. She didn't dare utter a word and when she had to in class, embarrassment would quickly rise to her face and warm it, causing snickers and whispers throughout the room. She was innocent and sweet, just right for picking and to be thrown around and teased. It was always her friends who had to step in and rescue her. Always. And this was just a dark reminder of it.

Lem sniffed softly, tears burning her eyes as they trailed down her cheeks. And she was even a superhero fighting the deadliest creatures in the world but she couldn't stand up to a single person picking on her.

She quickly turned on her heels, suddenly bolting off the academy's grounds without a single word. Her feet tapping across the ground as rapidly as they could.

Jack blinked once, something snapping in her orange eyes as she bared her teeth and glared at the rich pinkette. "That's it!" She shouted, lunging forward towards her.

Rose quickly stepped back, eyes wide as she held one hand up only to see a blue blur tackle the orange haired girl down to the ground. "Jack! Jack! Calm down!" Ske shouted, laying across her back with her right arm wrapped around her neck. "Calm yourself now!" She softly grunted, the girl below her struggling with great strength.

"Let me go!" Jack roared like a lion, trying to pry her friend off her, "I've had enough of this brat talking and making Lem feel bad!" She jerked.

"I think I'll take my leave with that." Rose scoffed, stepping aside. "Simply barbaric." She muttered to herself.

Growling softly, Ami stepped up in front of her with narrowed eyes. "What in the world in your problem with us?" She demanded, raising a hand and pointing at her with narrowed eyes. "We have never done anything wrong to you. EVER."

"Ugh." She let out a disgusted sound, pushing the violet haired girl's hand away with a single finger. "Please refrain from touching me, fatty." She spat, walking around her with the sway of her hips and a small hmph of air.

"Don't let her get to you." Pi grabbed Ami's hand, smiling softly. "We love you just the way you are. We wouldn't change you for the world."

She nodded back slow, gulping as she looked down. They might not want to change her, but deep down she wanted to change herself. This appearance and the harsh words that follow only making her feel less wanted, and the reason her mother left.

"Jack. Jack. Hey." Rosa knelt down in front of the still struggling orange haired girl. "Take a deep breath and breathe." She reached over, patting her cheek.

Breathing in and out heavily, she was quietly growling deep and far back inside her throat. After a few seconds, she slowly started to ease up, as did Sky in return until the blue haired girl fully got off her and sat down next to her.

"You good?" The redhead asked with eyes filled with concern.

"I can't stand her." Jack snarled, sitting up and dusting herself off. "She thinks she's so perfect and always gets away with everything." Her jaw tightened. "I just want to knock that wretched smile off her face!"

"I know. Me too." She nodded in agreement. "But right now we have bigger problems." She stood up, holding out both her hands for Sky and Jack to take. "Lem's run off, and we need to go find her. I am nowhere near agreeing with skipping school, but we can't let Lem run around out there as upset as she is all alone. So come on."

The two girls sitting on the ground both looked at each other before nodding. Both took one of Rosa's hands in theirs, pulling themselves up with determined smiles. They weren't going to let such a small obstacle stand in their way. Not with everything they have been through.

09:03

Walking down the street with Jack at her sighed, Rosa took a deep breath as she let her shoulders fall. "Jack?" She said calmly, letting the cool morning air strike her face as she slowly looked over. "You're quiet. And that means a lot when it's about you." Her brows rose as her eyes filled with concern. "I know Lem has been your friend longer than any of us..." She trailed off.

"It's fine..." The orange haired girl mumbled, her hands buried deep inside her brown pants pockets. She let a few strands of her wavy hair fall across her face, slowly breathing in the smell of early morning coffee and tea. "I'm fine."

She deeply groaned at the answer, letting out a heavy huff of air as her cheeks puffed out. "You know, I can't exactly help you guys if every time I ask what's wrong and you answer with I'm fine!" She tossed her arms up, exhaling harshly as she let her arms fall down and hit her thighs with a soft smack. "I'm just trying to help... why can't you let me...?" Her voice lowered some as did her head as she eyed her feet, watching them step across the sidewalk.

Blinking softly, Jack looked up as she raised her hand and slowly pushed the hair from her face. "Sorry, Rosa..." She trailed off a bit before sighing as she rolled her shoulders back and looked up at the still rising golden sun and the bright blue sky around it. "I know you're just trying to help. You care a lot about all of us." She reached up, moving her hands behind her head as she walked on, glancing down several side roads. "It's just, some things are better left unspoken."

Rosa sighed again, reaching up and rubbing her temples. "Jack, there are numerous studies and books that show that talking about something that stresses you out or bothers you can help improve your lifestyle and your quality of life. You can't exactly argue with facts." She quickly looked down an alley at the sound of movement only to sigh as she saw a black cat knock over a trash can and run off.

"Darn it..." Jack uttered, kicking the ground with a low grumble. "And I can too." She faintly smiled, looking over at the redhead. "I can say screw logic all I want!" She held up her arm, pointing at herself with her thumb. "Just watch me!"

"Oh for the love of Oum..." She reached up, pinching her nose as she lowered her head and shut her eyes. "See this, this is why you can't get a good grade in any class. You literally question everything in existence. You probably question your own existence and say you are a part of some story or some book or something crazy like that!"

"Pffft!" She waved her hand, flipping her orange hair back with a chuckle. "That's Lem's kind of thinking. She's the conspiracy girl. I just question everything." She grinned, looking over at her friend with wicked flashing across her eyes. "Especially authority."

The redhead sighed again, shaking her head as she crossed her arms. "Some days, I really do question why I became friends with you nut jobs." She then started to softly smile, watching each step she took. "But then I remember how much I care for you and vice versa." She smirked, looking up. "I guuuess that makes up for it." She softly laughed.

"You're just jealous of how awesomely I think!" Jack prided, smiling as she chuckled with her eyes shut.

"Gods help me if I do." Rosa shook her head, unable to hide a faint smile from growing.

10:57

As the unmistakable sound of a dying whale echoed through the air, Jack groaned as she wrapped her arms around her stomach and hunched over. The source of the sound being none other than her own body betraying her. "I'm so hungry!" She grimaced, tossing her head back while looking up at the high risen sun. "At least by now I would have passed Lem in the hallway and she would have given me an apple or something!"

"You know, out of all of us," Pi kept her hands hidden inside her hoodie pocket as she flipped her green time stone around between her fingers, the two of them walking down a side road to Lem's favorite candy shop. "I would think the two of us would be able to go the longest without eating." She then sighed. "But you're such a wimp when you get hungry."

"I am nooot!" She groaned more, her stomach letting off a very loud gurgling sound. "I just need something to eat before my stomach decides to eat itself!" She complained, holding her stomach tighter. "I want an apple! Or an orange!" She cried out. "How am I supposed to help look for her if I'm starving!" Rather than keep her saddened and worried expression showing, she decided to at least try and brighten the mood of her friends now. Even if it did make her feel worse.

She couldn't help but shake her head, sighing softly with a partially amused look deep in her eyes. "Don't know about those, but they probably have candy apples or at the very least candy orange slices here. You could put them on Lem's tab." She faintly scoffed. "Maybe buying sweets on her tab would draw her out somehow."

"Do you think that would work?" The orange haired girl suddenly asked with raised eyebrows.

Pi softly chuckled, grabbing the door handle and pulling it open with a small creek. The bell above ringing. "It's worth a shot. You first." She motioned her head inside, holding the door open. "And grab me some of those gummy sushis while you're at it." She smiled, finger gunning her friend as she stepped inside the small candy shop.

"I got ya." Jack winked, flashing her canine teeth as she smiled.

When the bell rang again, its chimes echoing in the still street, both Pi and Jack walked out. The first with a couple colorful gummies in the shape of various types of sushi as the latter had a small bag of candy oranges sticking out of her right pocket and a green caramel apple in her left hand.

"Does it bother you why he didn't even bother to ask why we weren't in school?" Pi asked, taking a small bite of one of her candies and chewing it.

"A little, but I guess the shop owner is used to us causing trouble and doesn't even want to ask why anymore." Jack gave a small shrug, chomping down on the candy apple with a bite as big as she could take. "I mean, I wouldn't if I was him."

"Yeah, I guess that makes sense." She slowly nodded back in agreement, taking a seat at the edge of the street with her feet resting in the gutter. She sighed, letting her arms rest across her knees as she watched the few vehicles drive past.

Blinking, the orange haired girl swallowed her apple bite thickly, slowly sitting down beside her friend. She leaned back, her right hand holding her up. She glanced at Pi, slowly nodding before she looked up at the clouds slowly rolling in. "You seem exhausted and stressed. You doing alright?" She asked, her voice hushed and lacking the normal rambunctious tone.

Pi groaned, rolling her eyes as she sighed and lowered her head on top of her knees. "Everyone is asking that today huh...?" She glanced over.

"Are you though?" She softly raised an eyebrow, straightening on of her legs as she leaned across her upright leg.

"Are you?" The green haired girl asked back, tilting her head some. "With everything that has happened, I thought you would be more upset."

Jack sighed, slowly looking away as she lowered her candy apple down and away. "That doesn't matter..."

"So you're not okay." She muttered, looking back across the street at the vehicles rolling on by.

"And neither are you." She mumbled back, lowering her head.

13:01

Walking down the old country roads in search for their young blonde friend, Sky and Pi walked on either sides of the road, glancing between what felt like millions upon millions of trees. The leaves themselves, once green were now slowly changing colors. Or had already been changing colors and were now beginning to fall, their crisp green colors being overrun by yellow before drifting into and orange mixed with a brown color.

"You see anything?!" Sky shouted, narrowing her eyes into the shadows of the woods. "Because I'm having absolutely zero luck over here!"

"Not a single thing." Pi groaned, rubbing her face a bit. Coming back near the edge of the city, she finally sighed. She quickly looked both ways and making sure no one was coming down the road before sprinting across. She skidded to a stop, slowly regaining her calm walk next to her blue haired friend. "I have no idea where she could even be anymore. Where else could we look?"

"Not sure." She stroked her chin softly as she looked around. "She's not in the side parts of the city. She's not in her favorite place to be. She's nowhere near home or out in the country." She sighed, reaching up and rubbing her eyes. "Ami and I could check out the school yard once class is out. Maybe after she and Rosa could check main parts of the city and we could all meet up by the clock tower once we're done searching? Hopefully by then we'll find her."

"You think she's in one of those places?" The green haired girl asked quietly. "Maybe we should search the clock tower as well. No one ever goes up there anymore. The Dust propels all the gears and keeps it clean itself."

The two then looked at each other, blinking a few times before faintly laughing. "Naw," The bluette waved her hand with a grin. "No offense to her, but Lem wouldn't be smart enough to hide inside a place like that. Maybe climb on top of it..."

"No way." She shook her head, sticking her hands back inside her hoodie pocket. "Please, there is no way Lem would climb on top of such a high structure." She then blinked, lowering her head with a sigh. "Or at least I hope so."

15:05

"You can tell Pi's really worried about Lem and something else." Sky muttered, keeping her voice low as she as Ami stepped around to the back of the academy to search the school yard. "You can see it in her eyes. She keeps putting up this sassy forefront to cover it, but it's there."

"We're all pretty worried for her, Sky." The violet haired girl whispered, looking around with her arms crossed at all the familiar faces. None of them being her blonde friend. "She has never run off to cry for this long. Normally it's just twenty minutes at best but... it's been an entire school day. She's been missing for eight hours!" She gulped, shifting her arms as her right hand started to rub her left arm. "Something could have happened to her..."

The words struck her like a burning red hot dagger, making her pause in her steps. Slowly, she drew her hands from her blue hoodie pockets. Just like when her father didn't return home and she had to be given the talk from her mother about how something may have happened to him. She took a deep breath, slowly exhaling as she calmed her nerves just like she would in a soccer game.

Those words hit her worse than the others did. Soccer.

"Holy freaking crap!" Sky shouted almost at the top of her lungs as she spun around to look at her friend and quickly grabbing her shoulders with wide eyes. "I have soccer practice! That was supposed to be right after school! Coach is going to freaking kill me!" She pulled her hands away, covering her nose and mouth. "Oh my gosh..." She took several deep breaths, her eyes wide. "Our first game is this weekend too. And I am missing practice. Oh my gosh!"

Seeing the normally calm girl in a fit of panic, Ami blinked a few times before slowly reaching out a shaky hand and grabbing her wrist. "Hey... remember to breathe, okay? It's just one practice. Calm down."

"It's more than that!" She partially snapped while grinding her teeth together. "I have a responsibility to my team and to the school and to coach and..." She took a few deep breaths, slowly lowering her head. "And to dad..." She gulped, breathing softly as Ami's hands tightened around her wrist. "He... he always loved to play with me... and come and watch games even though he was suppose to be out killing those things... and I could always hear him cheering the loudest out of everyone... he wanted me to get better... he knew I could become the best if I kept at it and-" She was cut off from her hushed ranting, softly sniffling as she felt her friend pull her into a soft and gentle yet still tight and strong hug.

"Hey. Take a deep breath." Ami slowly rubbed her back before moving her head up and holding her head. "I'm sure he would be proud of you with how much you have accomplished. We haven't lost a single game since you joined the team. Plus, now you're out there kicking butt just like him." She softly smiled, pulling back a little to look into her friend's blue eyes, seeing the tears she was choking back. "There is no way he could be more proud of you than what he is now. You are amazing and kind and caring and so much more. Don't forget that." She reached up, pecking her cheek.

Sky blinked slowly, nodding softly as she sniffled with a kind smile. "Thanks." She reached up, rubbing her eyes a bit as se took a deep breath. "I think... I needed that." She inhaled as deep as she could before exhaling with a sigh.

"Good." The violet haired girl nodded, putting a hand on her shoulder as she smiled back. "Now let's get going. I don't think Lem is here and we also don't need anybody to catch us when we weren't in class."

"Yeah." She chuckled softly, rubbing the back of her head as she ruffled her blue ponytail. "That would be really awkward."

16:59

Yawning as she stretched her arms out, Ami heard her shoulders and back popping as she sighed in relief. She glanced up, looking at the sky which was started to turn a dark blue from the setting sun. "You know... looking for someone all day is really tiring..." She let out a huff of air before stretching out her back again.

"You know," Rosa pulled the sleeves down on her red sweatshirt, having them cover a bit of her hands as the chilly air came rushing through the city and between buildings. "Popping your joints like that is extremely unhealthy. It could lead to some really bad health problems. Like arthritis. My grandfather has that and it hurts for him to just get out of bed sometimes."

"Well then it's a good thing I don't get off the couch much." She chuckled softly, turning around to face her while stretching her arms out still, popping her shoulders yet again.

"That's not the point..." The redhead sighed, shaking her head as her shoulders dropped in defeat. "I don't even know why I bother." She tossed her arms up. "None of you ever listen!"

"Oh, no. We listen." She turned back around, glancing between buildings and the busy roads in search for any sighting she could find of Lem. "You're extremely smart. It's hard not to listen." She then smirked, glancing back for only a second. "We just don't care."

"That... that makes it worse!" She sighed again, shaking her head. "I'm trying to help you guys out!"

"Yeaaaaaaaaaah." The violet haired girl chuckled, raising her arms above her head as she stretched out her back. "But this feels really good." As she did so, her sleeves slowly fell down her arms, revealing small hand shaped bruises.

Rosa blinked, her brows quickly furrowing. "Ami...?"

"Huh?" She glanced back before flinching, quickly pulling her sleeves back down. ""N-No it's..." She sighed. "Papa got really drunk a couple nights ago. You know I normally wouldn't let him do it but this time I couldn't stop him in time." Her head lowered.

Sighing softly, she stepped up next to her. "I know. My house is still always open for you if you need a place to spend the night. We have a bunch of food you could eat too." She softly smiled, nudging her a bit. "I'm sure your father wouldn't miss you or even notice you not being there."

"Thanks, Rosa." Ami smiled back, leaning onto her a bit. "Your house is really pretty. And your butler and maids are the kindest people ever."

"Well they do get paid to be that way." She joked, looking up as she heard the clock tower strike and chime seven times. "Come on, we need to go meet up with the others." She gently patted her friend's back, quickly walking towards the center of the city of Fabula.

19:22

In the middle of the town, as the once bright sky slowly slipped into darkness and revealed its faintly glowing stars and the illuminating broken moon that casted shadows across the city streets only to be lit up by burning lamp posts, three young girls were standing underneath an age old clock tower that was a hundred times their height. The peak of the tower rose up and partially blocked the moon, the light from it casting a pointed shadow down the street below.

"This is ridiculous!" Jack shouted, her hands covering her face as she tossed her head back and rubbed her palms roughly against her eyes. "We have been searching for nearly twelve freaking hours and searched all across Fabula and we can't find Lem anywhere!" She screamed in aggravation, tossing her arms down to her sides as her fingers curled.

Pi softly sighed, rubbing her eyebrows with her eyes shut and head lowered. "It's getting late too. The sun is down and I need to get home." She was sitting on a street bench, her body sideways as she stretched her legs across it. Finally, she let out a sigh, allowing her arms to fall down next to her torso as she leaned her head back and across the armrest, looking back at her friends. "But we can't just leave her roaming out here..."

"Maybe we could..." Sky groaned, leaning against the side of the clock tower. Her hands were buried deep inside her pockets as she kept her right foot braced up against the dark red bricks. She looked up, softly sighing at the lim wisps of clouds that rolled across the night sky. "I don't even know." She shook her head as she slowly lowered it. "I guess all we can do is hope Rosa and Ami had better luck than us."

"Hate to burst your bubble," Rosa's voice filled the air, quietly echoing before going still. She walked up, her black shoes tapping against the concrete sidewalk. "But Ami and I have had about as much as we all have been having all day." She sighed, the cold night air sweeping in as she pulled her sleeves farther over her hands to keep herself warm.

"Great. Just great!" Jack tossed her hands high up into the air as she began to pace back and forth with an irritated expression. Her eye twitching ever so slightly. "After hours of searching we are still at zero!" She heavily groaned, pausing as she reached up and rubbed her face.

"I think it's about time we tell an adult." Ami spoke up, her voice low as she pushed strands of her uncombed hair out of her face. "I know we all feel invincible with these magical powers but... we're not getting any closer to finding Lem. We need help. Like actual adult help."

Sighing, Pi reached up, rubbing her forehead slowly as she shut her eyes. "She might be right. We may be superheroes, but we're still kids. We're still so young. At least the adult would know what we should actually do in a situation like this." She looked up, glancing over at Jack. "What do you say? ASk the adults for help?"

The orange haired girl reached up, pinching the bridge of her nose. She took several deep breaths before letting her shoulders drop in relaxation as she sighed. "Yeah." She bit her lip, slowly nodding as she lifted her head up. "Yeah. That... that sounds like a good idea for once. It would be better than doing what we are doing right now."

"Agreed." Sky muttered, pressing her foot against the side of the building as she pushed herself upward, letting her hands fall free from her pockets as she stood up straight. "The police might be some help too. It's kinda their job to track down and find people. Even though doing that might scare Lem off more..."

Silence fell across the group of girls, a hushed wind blowing in and weaving between the city's buildings. The breeze picking up leaves and small pieces of trash as they gently rolled across the ground with soft crunches and pitter patters. It was likely they would have stayed quiet for much longer if a booming authoritative voice hadn't shot through the air, striking each girl like a dagger to the chest as it knocked the wind out of every single one of them.

"Miss Buds!" Professor Black snapped, his voice cold and rough as he took long strides towards the group of girls, stopping only a foot or two away. His eyes locked with the redhead's, the young girl quickly looking down with her jaw tight. "Miss Lantern!" His head shot to the orange haired girl, her hands balling up into tight fist as she too lowered her head down. "And Miss Kelz!" His voice roared, the green haired girl gulping as she swung her legs around, standing up from the bench she was sitting on. "Miss Bird!" As his black eyes narrowed on her, the blue haired girl slowly leaned her head back with a small sigh in defeat. "And Miss Thist!" His eyes locked on the violet haired girl who let her shoulders drop with a deep sigh as her head sunk into her shoulders.

"Now call me crazy, but I don't recall any of you in class today. Or you at soccer practice." He raised a finger, his eyes narrowing at Sky. He let his shoulders square as he stood up straight, crossing his arms. "And by the looks of it, none of you seem ill. So who would mind explaining to me why the five of you and your," He blinked, glancing between the girls before he spoke up again. "The five of you and Miss Eon weren't in class today."

Each of them stayed silent, swallowing as thickly as they could. They all slowly looked up, glancing between each other. They seemed to have had a conversation by simply looking at each other, speaking with their eyes in some way, because once they were finished and looked back down, Rosa exhaled, letting out a soft breath of air as she looked up at the headmaster.

"Lem is missing, Professor Black." She stared up at him for a moment, slowly lowering her head down as she moved her hands in front of her, interlocking her fingers as she held her hands tightly together. "She ran off just before classes started and we thought we could find her. But were not having any luck and..." She gulped. "We are all just really, really worried about her."

The tall man dressed in black blink a few times, his expression slowly softening. "She's... missing?" He asked softly, his arms lowering.

"Yes, sir." She nodded, biting her lip as she looked back up at him.

He stared for a moment before sighing, reaching up and rubbing his head as his eyes shut. "Listen, is the only time I will ever allow something like this. But, I can see your friend being far more important than attending school. But why didn't you go to some authoritative figure for help the moment she disappeared?"

"We thought we could handle it." Rosa's voice hushed even more. "We were wrong..."

Professor Black shook his head, sighing once more. "Well, admitting your mistakes are the first steps to learning from them." He held up his hand. "Where have you looked for Miss Eon so-" He stopped himself, hearing a thud followed by growling behind him. "What in gods name..." He trailed off, his eyes widening at the sight of several Grimm falling from the sky and landing on the ground.

"Beowolves?" Jack tensed a bit, her eyes widening as her shoulders squared to fight. "They're such a mindless Grimm. How did they make it to the center of the city?!"

"No... Jack, those aren't Beowolves." Rosa's eyes widened as she took a small step back. "Those... are Skin Walkers." She gulped heavily.

"Well done Miss Buds. Very few can determine the difference between the two at first glance." Blacked uttered, his breathing sharp as he slid a foot back and timidly raised his fist. "Skin Walkers are far worse than a mere Beowolf. Though how they got into the middle of Fabula, your guess is as good as mine." He shook his head.

The name Skin Walker came from an old folk legend, a very, very long time ago. It told the story of ancient witches, blood thirsty and hungry for power, and how they would slay a coyote and skin it. The would then take that skin, wrapping it around their own body so that they could sneak around at night and prey on any children who were out past their bedtime. But that was simply a story made up to keep small children from missing curfew, the real horror was the Grimm named after these coyote skin wearing witches who became widely known as skinwalkers.

The Grimm known as a Skin Walker was far more terrifying. Having the body shape of a Beowolf, they were easily mistaken for the latter. Whether it was a trickster type of move to attack while one's guard was down or a mere coincidence, the ending was always the same for those foolish warriors who couldn't see the difference between the two.

The main difference between the two types of Grmm were its facial features. While a Beowolf was more wolf like, with a broad snout, large nose pads, and smaller ears, the Skin Walker tends to have more of a coyote appearance. Its snout was much more narrow, its nose pads smaller, and its ears rather large when relative to its head.

There body types were very similar, though the Skin Walker was slightly slimmer than the Beowolf. This gave it enhanced speed which would easily overcome an opponent who didn't know they were such a beast. Strangely enough though, along with their incredible speed, their strength was twice that of their commonly mistaken Grimm brother. Making them a terrible force to be reckoned with. More than one with its strength and speed could easily tear apart a group of well bodied warriors if they were to encounter a pack.

With gruesome fangs the size of a human finger, each razor sharp and able to bite through steel, a stark white mask with red markings covered its face and snout. Its glowing red and yellow eyes seemingly ablaze with each snarl as one would look around. Its arms were the length of its entire body with bone like gauntlets that wrapped around its forearm while slowly slimming down to a point just above the elbow. Spikes lined its spine, some tilted and some half broken off. Likewise with thick piecing of sharply pointed pieces of armor that ejected themselves from its knees and the back of its heal. Its fingers and toes armed with might as well have been daggers the claws were so long and brutal.

And every part of this creature wanted nothing more than to kill.

"Alright, girls." Black gulped faintly, looking back at the five students of his. "The... the five of you go find help. I'll try to keep these things away from you as long as I can." His fingers shakily balled up into fist as he looked back at the six Skin Walkers only to flinch as a black blur came crashing down in the middle of them. He took a step back, eyes wide at the man shrouded in a long black coat with a hood. "What in the name off..." He trailed off.

Stretching out his shoulder blades with a soft groan, Doctor Darkness rose to his feet with a low tone to his voice. "I told you I'd be back. You Rainbow Time Dancers." His eyes narrowed underneath the shadow that hid his facial features, his teeth slowly flashing. "And this time, I have brought friends from your worst nightmares." His voice chilled the air, sending goosebumps down every girls spine.

"Crap..." Sky gritted her teeth, tensing as she looked back at her friends. "He somehow knows who we are." Her breathing was faintly sharp.

"Not the biggest problem we have right now." Rosa quickly said, her chest rapidly rising and falling. "There are six very deadly Grimm in the middle of the city where NO warriors are."

"Shoot..." Pi groaned softly, biting down on her cheeks as she moved her head back. She fiddled with the stone in her pocket, contemplating on whether or not it was worth transforming in front of...

"Black." Jack narrowed her eyes up at the headmaster, her shoulders squared as her hands were balled up into extremely tight fist. She was clenching them so tight her knuckles were turning white. "Can you keep a secret...?"

"I... I would hope so." He uttered, his voice shaken as his hands trembled. His entire body wishing to flee.

"Good." The orange haired girl responded, pulling her orange time stone from her pocket and tossing it up into the air the the flick of her thumb as she stepped forward.

"Wait! Jack! You're being reckless!" Ami shouted, taking a single step forward with her arm out.

"I am reckless." She glanced back, eyeing her friend. In midwalk, her time stone landed in the palm of her hand. It began to glow, fading away into her body as a white glove formed across her hand with an orange cuff. The rest of her uniform burning its way into existence and taking place of her normal clothes. "And I'm not letting these creeps hurt anyone."

"Oh." Professor Black blinked once, his arms dropping as he saw an orange double bladed battle axe form into reality by what seemed to be pure energy. "Okay," He raised a finger and nodded some, his arm lowering. "That honestly makes a lot of sense."

"Well, I guess subtly is out the window." Rosa sighed, pulling out her red stone. "Come on. We have a mission to complete now." She clenched the stone in her fist, it glowing as she changed into her red sailor outfit.

Pi, Sky, and Ami each stepped up, looking between each other while blinking several times. Eventually Sky shook her head, shrugging with a sigh as she pulled out her blue stone. The last two girls following suit.

"And that," Black waved a finger, pointing at the four girls who each energized their own weapon. "That makes an awful lot more sense than it should." He reached up, rubbing his chin a bit. "I'm honestly surprised no one caught onto six rainbow colored superheroes and six rainbow colored friends. I feel rather stupid at the moment." He uttered with a sigh.

Giving off a war cry, Rosa jumped into the air, bringing her red broadsword down with as much strength and speed as she could. Her eyes locked on those crimson eyes of a Skin Walker. She then flinched, her breathing hitching as he jumped out of the way with ease. She landed on her feet, grunting softly as she stopped her weapon centimeters from striking the ground. She flared her teeth, glaring up at the beast.

It snarled back at her, its body shifting around as if it was sizing her up. It's eyes glowing brighter before it tossed its long arms outward, lunging towards her with teeth and claws out. Lashing out with its right claw, it snarled deeply as it was blocked by the red blade in a reverse grip. It then quickly brought its left around, the razor sharp white claws just barely grazing over and cutting a few strands of red hair that slowly fell to the ground.

She hissed back, jumping away as she held her arms in an x shape above her face and torso. She quickly spun around, keeping her right hand around the hilt of the sword as she showed her teeth. She crouched down faintly, keeping up her spin as she placed her left hand on the ground. Strands of her hair covered her face as she swiped at the Grimm as quickly as she could.

The Skin Walker roared, its teeth all showing as it jumped back and went to all fours. The large blade just narrowly missing its black and gnarled tailed. Quickly standing back up with its balanced regained on its legs, flames practically came from its eyes as it let out a long howl, leaning back as it shook its arms around.

"Huh?" The redhead let out, simply blinking before her eyes widened. The creature of darkness was in front of her in the time it took her to do so. She gasped, holding her sword up to act as a shield as the monster swiped with both arms at intense speeds, sending the girl flying backwards. She froze times, grunting as she tried to keep herself from falling too hard. She took several deep breaths, allowing herself to calm her breathing in frozen time before standing back up as time resumed, her eyes narrowing as she raised her sword.

Jack was having just about as much luck as her leader was in fighting the Skin Walker. She was losing absolutely awfully. And that was putting it kindly. She grunted, pushing back with her battle axe against the Grimm holding it with its hands pushing back. She gave a low growl, her feet slowly being pushed back as she tightened her grip. Suddenly, she let go, letting the beast stumble forward as she slid down and underneath its legs. She quickly rose back up to her feet, gasping softly at the monster already at its and attacking.

The twisted creature snarled, smashing its entire body into the girl and knocking her weapon from her hand. It let out a low gurgle, crawling on top of the girl on the ground. Its jaw slowly opening as each piercing white and gruesome fang showed itself. Its triangle pointed tongue slowly sliding out as drool dripped down onto the concrete beside her head.

The orange haired girl hissed, glancing over at her axe quickly with her breath hitching. She thought about using her power to reverse time, yet deciding against it as she faintly smiled to herself. Her weapon suddenly dematerializing and vanishing into thin air. She quickly held up her hands, eyes wide as the handle began to form in her grip. Rather than her flesh, those ruthless teeth chomped down on the orange energy weapon just as the orange blades finished forming.

Like it knew she had her weapon once again, the creature of darkness rose to its feet, keeping its jaw locked on the weapon. It then thrashed its head, shaking the girl around before releasing its jaw and sending her flying across the road and tumbling right into the side of a building with a thud. It slowly scratched its right foot against the ground, the claws grinding before it suddenly took off running, charging at her.

Jack shook her head, groaning as she stood up. She leaned herself up against the wall, breathing heavily a few times before gritting her teeth. She slid one foot back, leaning forward before using as much strength as she could to push off and lunge towards the Skin Walker head on. She raised her weapon, crying out as she brought it around.

While the other two seemed to be having trouble keeping up with the speed these Grimm possessed, Pi was doing a slightly better job. In the speed department that is. The green of her energy katana coming off more as blurs as she struck the creature. She brought in slash after slash, her jaw clenched as she used her time ability to quicken her pace. It was just enough to keep keep up with the monster.

Though it wasn't enough to match with its strength. The creature simply caught each slash of the blade, blocking them each with the white bone like armor on its forearms. It took several quick steps, barely dodging between blows as that went towards its feet before raising its left arm, letting the green blade be blocked by it. It gave off a low growl, leaning its head in slightly. It jerked its arm away, suddenly backhanding the green haired girl across the face.

She gave a soft grunt, shutting her eyes for a moment before opening them with a heavy exhale of air. She twirled her katana into a reverse grip, stabbing it into the ground to slow herself down. Letting out a huff of air, she faintly grimaced at the gash she made in the road. "My apologies, city people." She muttered, despite the fact no one being around. She simply needed to say it. She quickly looked back up, green eyes narrowing as she twirled her weapon into a hammer grip, and in a blur of green, appeared in front of the Skin Walker with a downward slash.

The Grimm brought up both its arms in an x, its body only slightly being pushed back as it caught the blade between its forearms. Slowly, its tail waved back and forth, like it was honestly enjoying the fight at hand. Though, whether the creatures of darkness honestly had such emotions when they were drawn to such negative ones was up for debate by the greatest scientist in all of Remnant. It quietly snarled, flashing its teeth as it shoved the girl away with ease.

Groaning in aggravation, Pi skidded across the ground, her feet barely able to hold herself up. She let out a huff of air, looking up with narrowed eyes as part of her hair fell over her right eye and hid it from view. A clear expression of annoyance filling her eyes as her eyebrows scrunched together. There seemed to be no end to these creatures even when you could match their speed.

Sky seemed to be doing the best out of the five. Her years of soccer practice and athletic training helping her out greatly along with the enhanced strength and endurance from the magical time stones. Yet, it still didn't seem to be enough. She twirled her blue energy staff around, using it as a bo staff to block swipes from the Skin Walker. She had to take short steps back, the beast pushing her back as it took steps forward. She flashed her teeth, letting out a silent snarl. She wasn't allowed to let out angry growls during a game or practice, that mental memory built into her head and trailed over to this battle.

Watching as the young girl was being shoved back by its swings, the Grimm took a step back, giving leave before suddenly twisting its torso around, letting its left arm loosely hang as it swung it around with with an eerie echoing howl. That sound quickly being overrun by a dark snarling roar as its teeth flashed. It watched, seeing the young girl take advantage of the situation. Instead of blocking or attacking, she jumped up onto its arm and let the force of the swing send her flying through the air.

She flipped a few times, her blue ponytail flapping in the wind before she landed on one knee, her right hand holding out her staff as her left palm was placed across the ground. She silently screamed at herself, pushing herself up as she brushed her hair out of her face. Unlike the others, resetting time wasn't the best for a fight unless something awful happened. Other than that it would simply exhaust her energy. She tightened her jaw, glaring at the beast before her. She slid one foot back, eyes narrowing as she locked both hands onto her weapon.

The Grimm before her charged, running at her with mighty speeds while on all fours. It opened its mouth, teeth glimmering in the moonlight as its tongue swung around like a rapid canine. Drool hung from its mouth, globs of it flying off with each jerky movement the creature caused with its neck. It gave off a roar, its mouth opening up wide enough to swallow a human whole with ease.

Sky smirked at this, twirling her staff around a few times before taking a step forward, sending a ball of blue energy from the tip of her staff forward. It flew right into the creatures mouth, a small blue explosion erupting inside its mouth as it yelped in pain, its body collapsing and rolling across the pavement to the girl's feet. She smile confidently, raising her staff to deliver a finishing blow before her eyes suddenly went wide. The Grimm standing up with a snarl as it swung its arm, striking her and sending her flying back with a grunt.

Unlike Pi, Ami was having the exact opposite of her problem. While she could match the strength of the Skin Walker, her ability to keep up with its massive speed was lacking tremendously. This left her panting heavily as she leaned up against her large mace, her breathing rapid fire as she tried to catch her breath. With sweat dripping down the side of her head, she gave off a loud war cry, swinging her weapon around. It struck the Grimm lunging at her in the chest, making it groan quietly as it was thrown across the road, tumbling before it slowly stood back up.

It shook its head slowly, its body swaying softly from the impact. It closed its eyes, letting out a low grumble from deep back in its throat. It slowly began to stand on its hind legs, opening its eyes to see the violet haired girl with her mace raised coming down at it from the skies above. It groaned, raising its arms to block. A large impact shook the area, causing its feet to sink slightly into the ground. It groaned, its body shifting slowly.

Grinning faintly as a breath of hot air escaped her lips, she tightened the grip on her mace, quickly looping the moment of impact over. She cried out, putting all her strength into the blow once again as the creature was forced downward, its knees bending. And then again, her breathing wavering as its whole body arched.

As she went to strike the fourth time though, the beast snarled in a fit of rage and anger. It stood up straight, tossing its arms out as it opened up its mouth and roared as dangerous and as deadly as it could sound. Watching the girl coming down at it, it pushed its right foot back, bringing its right arm back as well before sending it forward with a speed too fast for her to dodge.

Ami's eyes widened, a faint gasp coming for her mouth. "Shoot!" She let out in a huff of air before grunting heaving, the monster's fist striking her and sending her flying away. She tumbled across the ground, losing grip of her weapon. Her back struck a lamp post, her body shooting with pain as her eyes shot wide and she grunted. She groaned, dropping to her hands and knees with deeper breaths than before. "D-Darn it..."

"N-Now I know all of you are extremely busy at the moment..." Professor Black stuttered, his breathing rapid as he held up his hands, his back pressed up against the wall. "But if someone wouldn't mind helping me!" He shouted at the top of his lungs, the sixth Skin Walker slowly approaching him with hungry and bloodthirsty eyes. It let out what could only be described as a demonic noise, its jaw slowly opening to reveal its teeth as it raised its arms.

Doctor Darkness stood in the middle of it all, watching each movement with peculiar eyes. He reached up, stroking his chin slowly as he eyed each of the five girls. Every single one of them struggling in the middle of their own battle yet still somehow managing to concern themselves with their professor's cries for help. "Interesting..." He muttered to himself, cocking his head to the side as a yellow arrow struck the Skin Walker about to devour the headmaster of Arcus Academy in the side, sending it stumbling back a bit, just enough actually for the blonde girl missing through the day to jump down and land next to him with a soft grunt.

"Miss Eon?" Black quietly asked, his voice incredibly low as he looked over at her, her head down slightly with her bangs covering part of her right face.

Letting out a small breath of air, Lem stood up straight as she rolled her shoulders back, her hair falling from her face and showing her bright yellow eyes now filled with distraught.

"Lem!" Jack shouted as loud as she could, her eyes wide. Both Black and Darkness picking up on there very small action. "Thank the gods you're okay! We have been looking for you for literally like half the day! And we couldn't find you anywhere! Where-" She was cut off, the blonde's voice raising for the first time ever.

"No! We need to talk!" She snapped, clenching her bow tight in her hand as her yellow and white sailor uniform began to materialize and take the place of her normal clothes. "Ever since we met, ALWAYS, all of you would just protect me! And I have had a very, very long time to think! I slowed down time for as long as I could to think up in that clock tower!"

"Oh." Pi blinked a bit, lowering her katana down as she saw the six Grimm suddenly drawn to the anger and negative emotions pent up in the young girl. "Wait! Lem! This is not the time!" She shouted with wide eyes.

"It's the perfect time!" The blonde shot back, breathing softly as she took a step forward. "I am tired of all of you treating me like some child! I don't need protecting ALL the time!" She gritted her teeth, her head snapping towards a Skin Walker that jumped at her. She groaned, raising her bow up. She slowed time to what was a near standstill, letting out a small breath of air as she drew back and launched an arrow. It piercing the beast's eye and straight into its head. As time resumed, she took a step forward, the creature hitting the ground behind her and evaporating into black smoke. "And I am tired of it! I want to look after myself for once!"

"What..." Ami blinked rapidly at the decaying Grimm. "What the actual what?!"

"She slows time..." Rosa herself blinked as well, lowering her sword with wide eyes and mouth half open. "She slows time and these Grimm are based on solely their speed. Take that away..." She trailed off.

"Take that away and you can kill them with ease." Sky finished her statement, slowly rising to her feet as she stood up. "Dang..." She let out in a small huff of air.

"Now that was my first initial thought!" Lem waved her finger around before groaning as two of the Grimm jumped at her. She rolled her eyes, shaking her head as she slowed time yet again. This time notching two hours which struck both of the beast in the forehead, sending them collapsing as she resumed the normal flow of time. "And then I thought some more and eventually came to the conclusion that you weren't doing it because I was smaller and weaker and quieter! You were doing it because we are friends! And that is what friends do! The protect each other no matter what!" She waved her arms, even pointing for emphasis.

"But that is not it!" She waved her arms around. "No! I don't know my real family! But that shouldn't be a freaking problem! Family is not defined by blood, it is defined by the amount of love and how much you care for someone! THAT is family! And I am sorry it took me all freaking day to realize that! But you guys are my real family! More family than my real parents will EVER be!" She took several deep breaths, growling deeply in the back of her throat as the three remaining Skin Walkers lunged at her. Just like twice before, she slowed time, raising her arms with slowed breathing as she took aim. Three yellow arrows forming across her bow as she fired.

The three of them collapsed, turning into smoke even before they struck the ground with a heavy thud. Lem herself sniffed softly, the pent up annoyance and aggravation leaving her as she fell to her knees, her weapon disappearing as she lowered her head. "I'm so... so sorry it took me that long to realize..."

She heard small footsteps slowly walking up towards her, yet she didn't bother to even lift her head. "Hey." Rosa said softly, kneeling down in front of her as she placed her hands on her shoulders. "Look at me." Her voice came off calm and not harsh at all.

Sniffling, the blonde slowly looked up. Her eyes filling with tears. Her eyes then suddenly widened, feeling the redhead's arms wrap around her and hold her close. "Y-You're not mad...?" She sniffed.

"No." She shook her head, shutting her eyes as she pulled her friend closer. "And I think I speak for all of us when I say it. We're all just happy you are okay."

"Then why are they all looking at me like I'm crazy?" She asked, raising a finger as she pointed at her friends innocently.

Rosa rolled her eyes, pulling back away from Lem. "You just took out six Grimm in a matter of minutes that were kicking our butts for at least ten minutes. You are going to get weird looks." She gave a nod, faintly smiling.

"Huh?" The young blonde let out in a confused tone with her eyebrows raising. "What do you mean?"

She softly chuckled, shaking her head as she shut her eyes. "I love you Lem, I really do but... sometimes I can't even." She laughed a bit more.

As Ami, Sky, and Pi all slowly stood up and walked towards their now found friend, Jack stayed back for a few seconds, slowly breathing with a faint smile. Walking up cautiously next to her, Professor Black stretched out his shoulders a bit before he let his arms fall.

"Why don't you go over with the others?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

She glanced up at him, blinking some as she rubbed her arm. "I... I will. I... I'm just really happy she is safe for now. That's all."

He blinked very slowly, his brows furrowing as his head cocked. "You really care for her, don't you?" His voice grew hushed. "You, you REALLY care for her."

Flinching at the emphasis put on the word, the orange haired girl looked away with a small grimace. "You don't know anything."

"I know when somebody looks at someone like that-" He was cut off, wincing ever so slightly.

"You can't prove anything." She spat, glaring up at him. "And even if you tried to convince people, there would be no purpose. People would treat both of us, more importantly they would treat Lem just as bad as they treat Faunus. And I will never let that happen." Her eyes narrowed.

"Okay. Okay." He nodded in agreement, holding up his hands in defence as he looked away. "Okay." He eyed the area, looking for any signs of Doctor Darkness and seeing nothing.

The next day, Rosa held her school bag as she walked down the hall towards the headmaster's office. Coming up towards the door though, she sighed softly as she saw her friends. "The rest of you too, huh?" She kept her voice quiet in the halls.

"Yep." Jack sighed, leaning against the wall.

Lem slowly raised her hand. "I was the first one here."

"Wonderful, eh?" Pi faintly smiled with the tilt of her head.

"Definitely." Sky nodded with a sigh.

Ami shook her head, rubbing her eyes. "Absolutely amazing."

"Great." The redhead reached up, rubbing her eyebrows harshly.

Her worrying seemed for not though. Once she and her friends entered the office after a well needed talk, she was faintly smiling. "So you're just letting us off the hook?" She asked, her eyes brightening up a bit.

"Yes." Professor Black nodded very slowly with his hands clasped and elbows resting on his desk. "As long as some like that never happens again. I have already cleared everything up. Your teachers and parents will never know. And couches too." He added to which Sky exhaled with relief.

"But what about the whole... you know," Rosa raised her hands, making a set of finger guns. "Pew pew." To this, Ami blinked rapidly followed by a facepalm. Pi soon following after as Lem softly giggled.

"I won't tell a soul. On my honor." He raised his right. "I will keep all your secrets for saving my life." He eyed Jack before looking away. "All of your secrets." He reassured.

"Good." The orange haired girl nodded, her hands in her pockets. "Now all we need to know is how that freak knew who we were when we weren't transformed. I thought you said he wouldn't be able to tell unless he knew it was us, Rosa?"

"That's what I thought." She muttered, holding up her hands.

"I believe that is true though." Black spoke up. "I know your faces by heart but I've never once put yours and their faces together." He softly sighed, lowering his arms."That is all though. The six of you may return to class."

"Thank you." Rosa gave a small smile as she and her friends started to leave, nodding her head softly as she close the door behind her.

The second the gears clicked and the door locked, the expression on Black's face completely change. It darkened, gaining a more ghastly and grim look to it. He leaned back in his seat, eyes narrowed at the door as he dropped his arms to his sides. "Foolish children." His voice was low, cold and dark. He reached over, opening a small drawer at his desk. He reached in, pulling out a solid black stone that resembled the colorful ones the six girls had found. "Insignificant, ignorant, utterly idiotic, foolish children." He spat out every word as harsh as he could, watching as the sunlight from the window shine down on the black stone and seemingly disappear. "I now know who all of you are without doubt. And I can easily find every single one of your weaknesses." His fingers slowly grasped the stone, one by one, slowly wrapping around it. His hand turning into a tight fist, encasing the black stone.


End file.
